Immunome Research
Open Access
ISSN: 1745-7580
+44-77-2385-9429
ISSN: 1745-7580
+44-77-2385-9429
Grazyna Adamus
Oregon Health & Science University, USA
Posters & Accepted Abstracts: Immunome Res
Autoimmune retinopathies (AR) are rare retinal disorders associated with loss of vision, presence of serum anti-retinal autoantibodies (AAbs) and presence/absence of systemic malignancy. ARs are immunologically and phenotypically heterogeneous. We studied the role of autoimmunity in the initiation and progression of retinal degeneration as well as a predictive value of AAb in diagnosis and prognosis of retinopathies. Out of 2524 patients tested 24% individuals had different kinds of systemic cancer. Immunoblotting analysis of patient sera revealed the presence of autoantibodies that specifically recognized photoreceptor proteins (transducin-�±, arrestin, recoverin), glycolytic enzymes (enolase, aldolase, GAPDH) and other functionally important retinal proteins (carbonic anhydrase II). The incidence of vision loss increased with the presence of additional anti-retinal antibodies (AAb panels), suggesting their possible relevance diagnosis of AR. We also identified novel AAbs that can be used to differentiate between subject and control groups. These AAbs may develop years before clinical diagnosis of paraneoplastic AR. Retinal phenotypes could be distinguished based on seropositivity, autoantibody profiles, vision loss, similarities in visual field loss and changed ERG patterns. Epitope mapping of major autoantigens showed distinct epitopes for paraneoplastic disorders and intramolecular epitope spreading that occurred during the progression from nonparaneoplastic to paraneoplastic retinopathy. Knowledge of the full autoantibody repertoire in retinopathy is an important requirement in better understanding of the autoimmune process to facilitate better diagnosis, prognosis and treatment.
Email: adamusg@ohsu.edu