ELECTRON-MICROSCOPIC IMMUNOHISTOCHEMISTRY OF OCULAR AND EXTRAOCULAR PSEUDOEXFOLIATIVE MATERIAL

To investigate the nature of extraocular pseudoexfoliative (PSX) mater ial, and to validate the hypothesis that the PSX syndrome is a systemi c disorder, we studied the immunoreactivity of intraocular and extraoc ular PSX material from patients with the PSX syndrome using antibodies against proteins of extracellular matrices. Surgical specimens of fou r different tissues were obtained from human eyes with the PSX syndrom e: nine trabecular tissues, three cataractous lenses, six bulbar conju nctivas, and seven lid skins. These tissues were processed for electro n microscopic immunohistochemistry, and stained with antibodies agains t vitronectin, fibronectin, laminin, and elastin, by an indirect immun ogold procedure. Density of the gold particles located on the PSX mate rial was estimated by video image analysis. Statistical analysis of th e data revealed that the PSX material from trabecular tissues, lenses, bulbar conjunctivas, and lid skins had almost identical immunoreactiv ity to the antibodies studied. PSX materials of trabecular tissues, le nses, bulbar conjunctivas, and lid skins were found to have not only a similar ultrastructure, but also almost identical immunohistochemical characteristics. These results support the hypothesis that the PSX sy ndrome is a systemic disorder. (C) 1997 Academic Press Limited.