| Titel | Validation of an antiretinal antibody detection strategy for the diagnosis of autoimmune retinopathies. | 
| Abstract Nr. | 1050 | 
| Doel | To assess the reliability of detection of antiretinal antibodies (ABs) in serum to diagnose autoimmune retinopathies (AIR) of neoplastic and non-neoplastic origin. | 
| Methodes | 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®). | 
| Resultaten | 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. | 
| Conclusie | 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. | 
| Naam | DRAGANOVA | 
| Initialen | D | 
| Instituut | Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre, CHU Brugmann | 
| Stad | BXL | 
| Naam | Debaugnies | 
| Initialen | F | 
| Instituut | Laboratory of Immunology, CHU Brugmann | 
| Stad | BXL | 
| Naam | Postelmans | 
| Initialen | L | 
| Instituut | Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Brugmann | 
| Stad | BXL | 
| Naam | Caspers | 
| Initialen | L | 
| Instituut | Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre | 
| Stad | BXL | 
| Naam | Willermain | 
| Initialen | F | 
| Instituut | Dpt. of Ophtalmology, CHU Saint Pierre, CHU Brugmann | 
| Stad | BXL | 
| Naam | Corazza | 
| Initialen | F | 
| Instituut | Laboratory of Immunology, CHU Brugmann | 
| Stad | BXL |