Serum autoantibodies to heat shock proteins in glaucoma patients from Japan and the United States

Objective: To study serum titers of antibodies against heat shock proteins in glaucoma patients from two different ethnic populations and to examine t he relationship between serum antibody titers and glaucomatous damage. Study Design: Comparative, cross-sectional study. Participants: Twenty-seven age-matched patients with primary open-angle gla ucoma, 28 patients with normal pressure glaucoma, and a control group of 26 healthy subjects from Japan; and 21 age-matched patients with primary open -angle glaucoma, 40 patients with normal pressure glaucoma, and a control g roup of 20 healthy subjects from the United States. Main Outcome Measures: Measurement of serum antibody titers and examination of optic disc and visual field parameters. Methods: Serum immunoreactivity against heat shock proteins, including hsp2 7, alphaB-crystallin, and human and bacterial hsp60, was studied by enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The relationship of serum antibody tite rs to glaucoma parameters, including mean deviation, neural rim area-to-dis c area ratio, and peripapillary atrophy area-to-disc area ratio was examine d. Results: The serum ELISA titers of antibodies, including hsp27, alphaB-crys tallin, human hsp60, and bacterial hsp60 antibodies, were higher in glaucom a patients compared with control subjects in both the Japanese and American groups (P < 0.05). There was no association between the serum antibody tit ers and optic disc parameters in either group from Japan or the United Stat es (P > 0.05). Conclusions: These findings suggest that increased titers of circulating an tibodies against heat shock proteins occur in both Japanese and American pa tients with glaucoma. The lack of a relationship between the level of serum antibody titers and the degree of glaucomatous damage in either ethnic gro up suggests that increased antibodies to heat shock proteins do not occur a s an epiphenomenon of the glaucomatous neurodegeneration process. Ophthalmo logy 2001;108:296-302 (C) 2001 by the American Academy of Ophthalmology.