Biomedical Research

As a complicated chronic disease, glaucoma does damage to optic nerve and results in final blindness. However, its pathogenic mechanisms still remain ambiguous. Recently, the attractive reports have suggested that the immune system is involved in glaucoma. It is notable that the relationship between autoimmunity and open-angle glaucoma has become a hot point in the field of eye research. It is evidenced that glaucoma is associated with increased serum autoantibodies titers to heat shock proteins (hsps), retinal antigens, Gluthione S-Transferase (GST), a-fodrin, optic nerve head glycosaminoglycans, γ-enolase, vimentin, Phospholipid (PL), Neuron Specific Enolase (NEL), Myelin Basic Protein (MBP), ?synuclein, Glial Fibrillary Acidic Protein (GFAP), 14-3-3 protein, homocysteine, hydroxyproline, solube CD44, erythropiotin and so on. In fact, these autoantibodies may be the pathogenic factors or indirectly induce the neural injury, on the other hand, they may protect eye against glaucoma. Thus, the fine regulations of immune system should be a potentially effective therapy strategy for glaucoma. Here, we summarize the reported autoantibodies associated with glaucoma and the underlying mechanisms involved in effects of these autoantibodies on the disease process.

Author(s): Wei Zhao, Zhijian Yin, Juan Li, Maicong Ma, Cairui Li
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