Abstract:

Objective To explore the presence and role of serum anti-retinal antibodies (ARA) in the patients with autoimmune retinopathy (AIR). Design Prospective comparative case series. Participants Serum of patients with presumed AIR and control cases including retinitis pigmentosa (RP), binocular uveitis, white dot syndrome and healthy donors. Methods 17 patients with presumed AIR, admitted to Beijing Tongren hospital from September 2016 to May 2018 were included. Serum samples of all patients with presumed AIR, 18 patients with RP, 9 patients with uveitis, 6 patients with white dot syndrome and 20 healthy donors were obtained and were analyzed for presence of ARAs by Western bolt assay. Main Outcome Measures Presence of serum ARAs including recoverin，α-enolase，carbonic anhydrase II (CAII) and CRMP5. Results ARAs were present in the serum of either patients with presumed AIR, some of healthy donors or control cases including RP, uveitis and white dot syndrome. One or more serum ARAs were present in the 76.5% of the patients with AIR, 54.5% the patients with other retinopathies and 33.3% healthy donors, while two or more serum ARAs were observed in the 64.7% of the patients with AIR, 30.3% the patients with other retinopathies and 0% healthy donor respectively. ARAs were found in the serum of 33.3% of patients with RP. α-enolase and CAII antibody were most commonly observed in each group . Recoverin antibody seemed to be specifically present in the patients with cancer associated retinopathy (CAR). Conclusion Presence of serum ARAs in the AIR patients occurred significantly more often compared with patients with RP and healthy donors. Presence of two or more ARAs occurred significantly more often than that of control cases. Presence of serum ARAs has an important diagnostic value for confirmation of AIR when combined with clinical manifestations.

Key words: autoimmune retinopathy, anti-retinal antibodies