PMID- 15946260
OWN - NLM
STAT- MEDLINE
DCOM- 20050729
LR  - 20220317
IS  - 0019-2805 (Print)
IS  - 1365-2567 (Electronic)
IS  - 0019-2805 (Linking)
VI  - 115
IP  - 3
DP  - 2005 Jul
TI  - Circulating anti-retinal antibodies as immune markers in age-related macular 
      degeneration.
PG  - 422-30
AB  - Age-related macular maculopathy (ARM) and age-related macular degeneration (AMD) 
      are the leading causes of blindness in the Western world. Despite the magnitude 
      of this clinical problem, very little is known about the pathogenesis of the 
      disease. In this study, we analysed the sera (using indirect immunohistochemistry 
      and Western blot analysis) from a very large cohort of such patients and normal 
      age-matched controls to detect circulating anti-retinal antibodies. Patients with 
      bilateral drusen (n = 64) and with chorioretinal neovascularization (CNV) (n = 
      51) were recruited in addition to age-matched control subjects (n = 39). The sera 
      were analysed for anti-retinal immunoglobulins on retinal sections. The data were 
      then correlated with the clinical features graded according to the International 
      Classification and Grading System of ARM and AMD. The sera of patients with 
      drusen (93.75%) and CNV (82.27%) were found to have a significantly (P = 0.02) 
      higher titre of autoantibodies to the retina in comparison with controls (8.69%), 
      indicating significant evidence of involvement of the immune process in early 
      stages of AMD. Subsequent statistical analysis of the drusen group showed 
      significant progressive staining (P = 0.0009) in the nuclei layers from early to 
      late stages of ARM. Western blotting confirmed the presence of anti-retinal 
      immunoglobulins to retinal antigens. As anti-retinal immunoglobulins are present 
      in patients with bilateral drusen and exudative AMD, these antibodies could play 
      a significant role in the pathogenesis of AMD. Whilst we do not have evidence 
      that these antibodies precede disease onset, the possibility that their presence 
      might contribute to disease progression needs to be investigated. Finally, the 
      eventual identification of the target antigens detected by these antibodies may 
      permit the future development of new diagnostic methods for ARM and AMD.
FAU - Patel, Nishal
AU  - Patel N
AD  - Ocular Immunology, Institute of Ophthalmology, University College of London, Bath 
      Street, London WC1V 9EL, UK.
FAU - Ohbayashi, Masahara
AU  - Ohbayashi M
FAU - Nugent, Alex K
AU  - Nugent AK
FAU - Ramchand, Kanchan
AU  - Ramchand K
FAU - Toda, Masako
AU  - Toda M
FAU - Chau, Kai-Yin
AU  - Chau KY
FAU - Bunce, Catey
AU  - Bunce C
FAU - Webster, Andrew
AU  - Webster A
FAU - Bird, Alan C
AU  - Bird AC
FAU - Ono, Santa Jeremy
AU  - Ono SJ
FAU - Chong, Victor
AU  - Chong V
LA  - eng
PT  - Journal Article
PL  - England
TA  - Immunology
JT  - Immunology
JID - 0374672
RN  - 0 (Antigens)
RN  - 0 (Autoantibodies)
RN  - 0 (Biomarkers)
RN  - 0 (Immunoglobulins)
SB  - IM
MH  - Aged
MH  - Antigens/immunology
MH  - Autoantibodies/blood/*immunology
MH  - Biomarkers/blood
MH  - Cells, Cultured
MH  - Cohort Studies
MH  - Female
MH  - HeLa Cells
MH  - Humans
MH  - Immunoglobulins/blood/immunology
MH  - Immunohistochemistry/methods
MH  - Jurkat Cells
MH  - Macular Degeneration/blood/*immunology
MH  - Male
MH  - Microscopy, Confocal/methods
MH  - Middle Aged
MH  - Pigment Epithelium of Eye/immunology
MH  - Retina/*immunology
MH  - Retinal Drusen/immunology
MH  - Retinal Neovascularization/immunology
PMC - PMC1782158
EDAT- 2005/06/11 09:00
MHDA- 2005/07/30 09:00
PMCR- 2006/07/01
CRDT- 2005/06/11 09:00
PHST- 2005/06/11 09:00 [pubmed]
PHST- 2005/07/30 09:00 [medline]
PHST- 2005/06/11 09:00 [entrez]
PHST- 2006/07/01 00:00 [pmc-release]
AID - IMM2173 [pii]
AID - 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2005.02173.x [doi]
PST - ppublish
SO  - Immunology. 2005 Jul;115(3):422-30. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2567.2005.02173.x.