A comparison of antinuclear antibodies and DNA-binding antibodies in chronic open-angle glaucoma

Antinuclear antibodies (ANA) were examined in the sera of 28 patients with chronic open angle glaucoma (COAG) and 24 normal volunteers by an immunoperoxidase technique. Unlike the results of a previous report, no significant difference in titers was found between the two groups. A highly objective radioimmunoassay for DNA antibody was also employed, giving similar results. The increased incidence of ANA at low dilutions in both COAG and normal groups in this study and its absence when measured by radioimmunoassay suggest that positive ANA reactions at such low dilutions are the result of nonspecific binding. The lack of demonstrable differences from normal in ANA- or DNA-binding antibody does not support the results of earlier studies suggesting a humoral immune or autoimmune mechanism in COAG.