Artemisinin ameliorates the symptoms of experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis by regulating the balance of TH1 cells, TH17 cells and Treg cells.

Myasthenia gravis (MG) is an autoimmune disease characterized by fatigue and muscle weakness. Artemisinin and its derivatives were reported to be experimentally used to treat autoimmune diseases, such as systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and experimental allergic encephalomyelitis (EAE). Here, we tested the effects of artemisinin on experimental autoimmune myasthenia gravis (EAMG). Our data confirmed that artemisinin markedly ameliorated the symptoms of EAMG rats. There was a decreased level of tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) and IL-17+ cells in mononuclear cells (MNCs), and an increased level of transforming growth factor-β1 (TGF-β1) and Treg cells in MNCs. These findings indicate that artemisinin may be a new choice for MG treatment.