Antilens antibodies in cataract and inflammatory eye disease: an evaluation of a new technique

Abstract

A new technique measuring serum antoantibodies to lens proteins, employing antigen linked to magnetisable cellulose particles and fluorescent end-point detection, was used to examine patients with senile cataract and inflammatory eye disease. 40% of patients with senile cataract had antibodies to lens proteins, as did 28% of patients with heterochromic cyclitis and 20% of patients with uveitis, while there were no positive sera from patients with scleritis. The single patient with lens-induced uveitis had a high titre, but so did some patients with senile cataract. With the incorporation of a standard curve this technique offers a reliable quantitative assay for lens autoantibodies. It may provide a valuable tool for the investigation of pathogenetic mechanisms in cataract and inflammatory eye disease.

Detection of anti‐lens crystallin antibody in dogs with and without cataracts

“…β‐crystallin has been found in the retina, brain, and testis 15 . Low‐dose immunologic T‐cell tolerance is maintained by small amounts of lens protein which escape across the normal intact lens capsule 16 . Increased immune system exposure to lens crystallin by leakage through the more permeable capsule of a cataractous lens, traumatic lens capsule rupture, or following surgical capsulorrhexis during extracapsular cataract extraction may overwhelm this tolerance and induce an intraocular or systemic cell‐mediated and/or humoral immune response 3,5,17,18 .…”

High incidence of antibodies to lens proteins in sera from patients with uveitis

“…Furthermore, they may be a result of the development of cataract as a complication of uveitis. Thus, there are studies that demonstrate a positive autoimmune reaction to lens proteins in patients with cataract [23,29,32]. Some authors support the thesis that the lens antibodies could be a secondary phenomenon related to the leakage of crystallins from the lens [18].…”

“…However, the author did not investigate the autoimmune reaction in patients with intermediate, posterior and panuveitis. Patel et al measured serum antibodies to lens proteins in ten patients with uveitis and seven patients with heterochromic cyclitis using antigens linked to magnetisable cellulose particles and fluorescent end-point detection [32]. They found that 28% of patients with heterochromic cyclitis and 20% of patients with uveitis have antilens antibodies.…”

Porcine eye lens crystallins: antigenic similarity with human crystallins and tool for the detection of anti-crystallin antibodies

“…Since the impermeable lens capsule is formed in early embryogenesis before the "maturation" of the immune system, the crystallins normally escape the typical induction of immunological tolerance to self-antigens [13]. For this reason, an immune response would be provoked if lens crystallins came into contact with immunocompetent cells.…”

“…The "leakage" of lens crystallins following operative or traumatic injury can induce an immune response and lead to the development of phakogenic uveitis [3]. Anti-lens antibodies have been demonstrated in sera of patients with ocular diseases, for example cataract and intraocular inflammation [12,13,15]. Thus, the investigations on the humoral reactivity against lens crystallins involve the determination of circulating immunoglobulins with anti-lens crystallin reactivity in sera of patients with ocular inflammations by means of eye lens extracts.…”