View abstract

This abstract is assigned to session Poster session

Title	Validation of an antiretinal antibody detection strategy for the diagnosis of autoimmune retinopathies.
Abstract Nr.	1050

Purpose	To assess the reliability of detection of antiretinal antibodies (ABs) in serum to diagnose autoimmune retinopathies (AIR) of neoplastic and non-neoplastic origin.
Methods	Study samples: sera from suspected AIR patients (n=17), healthy controls (n=10) and patients with antinuclear ABs (ANA) (n=5). Indirect Immunofluorescence (IIF) on primate retina (Euroimmun®) and Western Blotting (WB) against human retinal proteins (homemade) were performed prospectively and compared to patterns obtained with commercial ABs against recoverin, α-enolase, IRBP and TRMP-1. Anti-recoverin ABs were also identified by immunodot (Euroimmun®).
Results	At 1/10 dilution, several fluorescent structures were seen with normal sera, but at 1/100 all IIF were negative in healthy controls. Patients with ANA showed a positive signal in the nuclear layers. Among screened AIR samples (1/100), 7 were negative, 4 displayed a positive signal at the level of photoreceptors and 2 showed a positive signal at the level of bipolar cells. 1 of these samples, from a patient with a confirmed melanoma-associated retinopathy, showed a band at 24 kDa by WB. 4 samples showed a speckled pattern in the inner and outer nuclear layers. 2 of these were probably due to a non-specific cross-reaction with ANA.
Conclusion	Screening for antiretinal ABs revealed different patterns on primate retina. At this stage of the study, their clinical significance remains uncertain. WB can help identify the target antigens.

Authors 1

Last name	DRAGANOVA
Initials	D
Department	Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre, CHU Brugmann
City	BXL

Authors 2

Last name	Debaugnies
Initials	F
Department	Laboratory of Immunology, CHU Brugmann
City	BXL

Authors 3

Last name	Postelmans
Initials	L
Department	Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Brugmann
City	BXL

Authors 4

Last name	Caspers
Initials	L
Department	Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre
City	BXL

Authors 5

Last name	Willermain
Initials	F
Department	Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre, CHU Brugmann
City	BXL

Authors 6

Last name	Corazza
Initials	F
Department	Laboratory of Immunology, CHU Brugmann
City	BXL