[What are the antigenic targets in the ovary?]

The ovary can be the target of an autoimmune disease involving many different autoantigens. The clinical feature of this disease often results in premature ovarian failure or infertility and may be either isolated or associated with other autoimmune pathologies, especially with adrenal autoimmunity. The diagnosis of an autoimmune mechanism relies on the presence of anti-ovarian antibodies, whose prevalence is quite variable according to the different methods used to detect them, and to the different stages of the disease. In addition, their clinical significance is not always clear, as to their pathologic or epiphenomenal nature. However, the study of these autoantibodies has led to the identification of some of their antigenic targets which have to be known for a better understanding of the pathologic mechanisms involved. This paper reviews anti-steroid producing cells, anti-gonadotrophin receptor, anti-gonadotrophin, anti-corpus luteum, anti-zona pellucida and anti-oocyte antibodies.