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Abstract #9823 Published in IGR 5-3
Analysis of autoantibody repertoires in sera of patients with glaucoma
Joachim SC; Grus FH; Pfeiffer NEuropean Journal of Ophthalmology 2003; 13: 752-758
PURPOSE: Glaucoma is the second largest cause of blindness worldwide. It is usually considered a neurodegenerative disease. There is evidence that an autoimmune mechanism is involved in the development of glaucoma in some patients. The aim of this study was to analyze the IgG autoantibody repertoires in sera of glaucoma patients and healthy subjects. METHODS: A total of 82 patients were divided into four groups: healthy volunteers without any ocular disorders (CO, n = 30), patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG, n = 19), ocular hypertension (OHT, n = 16), and normal tension glaucoma (NTG, n = 17). All groups were matched for age and gender. The sera of these patients were tested against Western blots of retinal antigens. Immunodetection was done using 4-chloro-1-naphthol staining. The autoantibody patterns were digitized and subsequently analyzed by multivariate statistical techniques. RESULTS: All patients showed different, complex staining patterns of autoantibodies against retinal antigens. There was an increase in the number of peaks in sera of patients with primary open-angle glaucoma (POAG) compared to healthy subjects (CO). Including all peaks the analysis of discriminance revealed a statistically significant difference between the patterns of POAG compared to all other groups (p < 0.01). Sera of NTG had no statistically different autoantibody pattern compared to those of control subjects. CONCLUSIONS: In this study, the authors demonstrated a difference in the IgG autoantibody patterns of POAG patients compared to healthy subjects. However, the patterns were not significantly different in NTG compared to control subjects.
Dr. S.C. Joachim, Department of Ophthalmology, University of Mainz, Mainz, Germany
Classification:
9.2.2 Other risk factors for glaucoma (Part of: 9 Clinical forms of glaucomas > 9.2 Primary open angle glaucomas)
