[Study of immune reactions to collagen in patients with myopia]

Fifty-five blood sera and twenty-three samples of lacrimal fluid of patients with medium and high myopia were tested for antibodies to the main structural protein of the sclera, collagen, by enzyme immunoassay. Serum autoantibodies to collagen were detected in 50-70% of patients with all forms of myopia (congenital, early acquired, and acquired at school age). Antibodies to collagen were not detected in the lacrimal fluid, which was regarded as an evidence of the predominance of systemic autoimmune reactions. Antibody titers were the highest in the blood sera of patients with uncomplicated and slowly progressing myopia. Rapidly progressing myopia complicated by mixed forms of peripheral vitreo-chorioretinal dystrophies, including ruptures of the retina, was characterized by a deficit of antibodies to collagen in the blood serum. This implies a possible protective role of antibodies to collagen detected in the blood of patients with myopia. These results are regarded as a proof in favor of the participation of autoimmune reactions to collagen in the pathogenesis of medium and high myopia.