[Study of antibodies to DNA in patients with bilateral and unilateral endogenous uveitis]

The study was aimed at elucidating the contribution of autoimmune factors to the development of bilateral uveitis in children and adults. Sera of 59 children (aged 3 to 15) and 34 adults (aged 18 to 60) with unilateral and bilateral endogenous uveitis were tested for antibodies to DNA in ELISA. In children aged 3 to 10 years with bilateral uveitis antibodies to n-DNA were detected more often than in those with unilateral involvement. This difference was most expressed during the active stage of the disease (p < 0.02). In adult patients the results were the contrary. Antibodies to d-DNA were more often found in subjects with unilateral uveitis (p < 0.05). Accumulation of anti-DNA antibodies in children may be an early sign of systemic immunity disorders, conducive to augmentation of ophthalmopathy and to the development of a bilateral process. A lower incidence of anti-DNA antibodies in adult patients with bilateral uveitis is probably due to the formation of specific circulating immune complexes but not to normalization of immunity. These findings permit us to hypothesize that DNA autoimmunization is one pathogenetic factor of bilateral development of uveitis.