[Specificity of the humoral immune response to Candida albicans in patients with panuveitis]

Sera from 54 patients with panuveitis and 99 healthy blood donors were tested with an immunoblot assay for antibodies to 11 cytoplasmatic antigens of Candida albicans. In patients with panuveitis, IgG and IgM antibodies to a greater variety of Candida antigens were detected than in blood donors (t test, p = 0.005). Additionally, IgG antibodies to a 160-kDa protein and a 43-kDa protein, as well as IgM antibodies to the 160-kDa protein and a 67-kDa protein, were recognized more frequently in the sera of patients with panuveitis than in the sera of blood donors (U test, p = 0.05). These results suggest that in comparison to blood donors, patients with panuveitis have an altered immune response to Candida albicans.