Serum antibody response to human and bovine IRBP in uveitis

Interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) is a 136,000 molecular weight photoreceptor cell protein capable of inducing an experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) in susceptible animal strains. The occurrence of serum antibodies against human (Hu) or bovine (Bo) IRBP was investigated in patients with uveitis and healthy controls. A sensitive ELISA detected anti-IRBP in approximately 50% of patients and controls, without apparent differences in the mean level, titre or avidity and irrespective of the origin of the antigen. Although the correlation (p less than 0.001) between anti-HuIRBP and anti-BoIRBP levels in uveitis sera suggested the presence of crossreacting antibodies, these sera also contained antibodies specific for either the human or the bovine antigen. The only difference between patients and controls was the greater ability of antibodies in uveitis sera (p less than 0.05) to recognize a synthetic peptide of HuIRBP, which induces severe EAU in rats. We conclude that autoantibodies to IRBP occur naturally in man and are not increased in patients with uveitis.