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Vision loss in MS patients may be tied to retinal immune reaction, study suggests
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Visual impairment in patients with multiple sclerosis may be associated with antibodies produced in response to certain retinal antigens, according to a recent study by Polish scientists.
Wojciech A. Gorczyca and colleagues at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw, examined the sera of patients with multiple sclerosis and changes in their visual evoked potentials.
Since the visual symptoms of multiple sclerosis may be the consequence of an autoimmune reaction, the authors said, they sought to determine whether the patients’ sera contained antibodies against retinal antigens.
According to the study, immunoblot analysis showed that the sera recognized mainly a 46-kD antigen, a 41-kD antigen and retinal arrestin, and to a smaller extent the antigen proteins 70-kD, 56-kD, 43-kD and 36-kD.
The authors noted that patients whose sera showed the highest reactivity with 41-kD and 46-kD antigens had deficiencies in visual acuity, visual fields, ophthalmoscopy and electroretinograms.
The study is published in the journal Ophthalmic Research.