Levels of Antibodies against Human Heat Shock Protein (HSP) 60 in Patients with Glaucoma in Poland

Abstract

BackgroundAlthough elevated intraocular pressure is a major risk factor for the development of glaucoma, there is increasing evidence that the immune system may be involved in the development of normal-tension glaucoma (NTG). The aim of this study was to determine if NTG is associated with elevated levels of antibodies against human heat shock protein (HSP) 60.Material/MethodsThe study was conducted in 139 subjects (35 subjects with NTG [Group 1], 34 subjects with primary open-angle glaucoma/POAG/[Group 2], 24 subjects with autoimmune rheumatic diseases [Group 3], and 36 healthy controls [Group 4]). All subjects had complete ophthalmologic examination (visual acuity, slit-lamp examination, tonometry, gonioscopy; visual-field examination, and optical coherence tomography/OCT/of the optic nerve head and the macula). Blood samples were collected for the measurements of serum levels of antibodies against human HSP60.ResultsThe subjects with rheumatic diseases had the highest median serum level of antibodies against HSP60 – 20.49 ng/mL. The values in the subjects with NTG, POAG, and in controls were 18.79 ng/mL, 18.61 ng/mL and 17.61 ng/mL, respectively (p=0.96).ConclusionsThis study does not confirm the hypothesis that normal-tension glaucoma is associated with elevated blood levels of antibodies against human heat shock protein (HSP) 60.

Heat shock proteins in the retina: Focus on HSP70 and alpha crystallins in ganglion cell survival

“…Further support for the involvement of an autoimmune component in a subset of glaucoma, was demonstrated by immunization of rats with HSP27 and HSP60 that resulted in RGC degeneration and axon loss (Wax et al, 2008; Joachim et al, 2009; Joachim et al, 2010). A recently published study, however, found no significant difference in the serum levels of antibodies against human HSP60 between 35 NTG and 34 POAG subjects and 36 controls and concluded that their results “do not confirm the hypothesis that normal-tension glaucoma is associated with elevated blood levels of antibodies against human HSP60” (Grabska-Liberek et al, 2015). This apparent disagreement about the role of antibodies against HSP60 in glaucoma pathogenesis can be resolved if we accept that the autoimmune factor as proposed by Tezel and Wax is associated with a certain subset of glaucoma, which may have been underrepresented among patients included in the study by Grabska-Liberek et al (2015).…”

Glaucoma –state of the art and perspectives on treatment

“…Normal tension glaucoma (NTG), also called low-tension glaucoma, is considered to be a type of open-angle glaucoma, but this issue remains controversial (Lestak et al, 2013). NTG accounts for up to 30–40% of glaucoma cases ( Grabska-Liberek, 2015 ; Klein et al, 1992 ), but a higher percentage of NTG was reported for Japanese and Korean populations ( Suzuki et al, 2006 ). This finding points to race as a risk factor for NTG; other major risk factors for NTG are, similarly to POAG: age, sex (women suffer more often from NTG than men) and cardio-vascular diseases ( Orgül, Kaiser, Flammer, &Gasser, 1995 ; Emre, Orgül, Gugleta, & Flammer, 2004 ).…”

Role of Heat Shock Proteins in Glaucoma

“…While several studies found elevated levels of antibodies against HSPs in glaucomatous serum or aqueous humor samples, some studies came to another conclusion. Grabska-Liberek et al did not note any differences in serum levels of antibodies against HSP60 in their glaucoma patients [43]. In addition, Nowak et al observed similar expression levels of antibodies against HSP70 in serum samples from POAG and controls [44].…”