IMMUNE-RESPONSE TO SPECIFIC MOLECULES OF THE RETINA IN PROLIFERATIVE VITREORETINAL DISORDERS

In recent years, several reports have contributed to a growing suspici on that there is immunologic involvement in proliferative intraocular disorders such as proliferative vitreoretinopathy and proliferative di abetic retinopathy. immune privilege, as in the brain, ovary and testi s, also exists in the eye. Therefore, immune responses to unique molec ules of the eye, e.g. retinal S-antigen (S-Ag), which the immune syste m never learns to regard as ''self', are possible. This study describe s the presence of S-Ag, a major soluble photoreceptor protein involved in the visual transduction cascade, in pathological vitreous. We empl oyed indirect immunoblotting, with human retina as substrate, and demo nstrated the occurrence of antiretinal antibodies in the sera of a ser ies of patients with proliferative vitreoretinal disorders. Immunoblot analysis of physiological retina and lyophilized S-Ag, revealed this protein as a target molecule of the immunological involvement of the r etina. Further immunochemical investigation, however, must clarify whe ther this autoimmune reaction is the cause, a consequence, or an aggra vating factor of the disease. As we come to understand the cellular an d molecular mechanism, a new generation of therapeutic strategies may be envisioned.