IMMUNE REACTIVITY TO DIFFERENT RETINAL ANTIGENS IN PATIENTS SUFFERING FROM RETINITIS PIGMENTOSA

Abstract

The immune status of patients suffering from different types of retinitis pigmentosa was investigated. The lymphocytes of these patients could be stimulated by incubation with human soluble retinal antigens and with bovine rod outer segments. The involvement of the cellular immune system in retinitis pigmentosa is suggested. The leukocyte migration inhibition test pointed in that way, especially if bovine rhodopsin was used as the antigen. The complement fixation test suggested the presence of a nonspecific weak antibody activity in the blood of retinitis pigmentosa patients and of controls. This activity seemed predominantly to be directed to the insoluble fraction of human retinas. Patients suffering from retinitis pigmentosa apparently may become sensitized to retinal antigens, especially to those localized in the rod outer segments. This sensitization concerns the cell-mediated immune system and seems not to be correlated with a special type of the disease.