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Identification of autoantigens
associated with glaucoma in patients with pseudo-exfoliation syndrome
PI: Derek Murphy
Collaborators: Colm
O’Brien and Edward Dervan, Dept. of Ophthalmology, Mater
Hospital, Dublin; Nikola Brummel-Murphy and Su Ling Ho, Royal Victoria
Eye and Ear Hospital, Dublin
Project: Pseudoexfoliation
syndrome (PXF) is an age-related disease characterised by abnormal
deposition of fibrillar extracellular material in many ocular tissues
especially notable in the structures of the anterior eye chamber.
Glaucoma occurs more commonly in eyes with PXF and has a more serious
clinical course and worse prognosis than primary open-angle glaucoma.
PXF is now also well-recognised as a systemic disorder where similar
fibrillar material has been found outside the eyes (e.g. skin, around
lymph nodes, blood vessels etc). It has also been associated with a
higher incidence of cardiovascular events, aortic aneurysms, Alzeimer's
disease, sensorineural deafness, hyperhomocysteinamia among the
sufferers. In one study, 63% of the patients attending the glaucoma
clinic in an Irish hospital had pseudoexfoliation syndrome.
A number of auto-antibodies have been identified in various types of
glaucoma, e.g. anti-rhodopsin and anti-Ro/SS-A in normal-pressure glaucoma.
Another study (Joachim et al, 2005) describes a complex repertoire of
IgG autoantibodies against retinal, optic nerve and optic nerve head
antigens (without the identification of the particular target antigens
involved) in various glaucoma patients. We are presently seeking to
apply our protein array techniques to this study in order to facilitate
the identification of the target antigens. To our knowledge no previous
examination of autoantibodies in serum of PXF-associated glaucoma has
been carried out. Further, we aim to be the first group to identify
antigens of auto-antibodies present in the vitreous humor of PXF
patients.
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