Korean J Ophthalmol.  2014 Jun;28(3):207-212. 10.3341/kjo.2014.28.3.207.

Isolation of IgG Antibodies to Toxocara in Ankylosing Spondylitis Patients with Acute Anterior Uveitis

• Jimenez-Balderas FJ
• Garcia-Jaimes J
• Rios R
• Zonana-Nacach A
• Tapia-Romero R
• Villanueva N
• Mendez-Samperio P
• de-la-Rosa-Arana JL

• KMID: 2133318
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.3341/kjo.2014.28.3.207

Abstract

PURPOSE
Since few reports had been published on the prevalence of toxocariasis in ankylosing spondylitis (AS) patients with acute non-granulomatous anterior uveitis (ANGAU), the aim of this work was to determine the presence of antibodies against Toxocara canis in AS patients with ANGAU.
METHODS
Thirty-six patients (14 female and 22 male) with AS were enrolled in the study. The history of ANGAU was accepted only if diagnosed by an ophthalmologist. The detection of IgG antibodies to T. canis was determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. In addition, antibodies to Ascaris lumbricoides were also tested to verify non-specific reactions.
RESULTS
The prevalence of ANGAU in the AS patients was 58% (21 / 36), and 38% (8 / 21) of the patients with ANGAU were positive for antibodies to Toxocara, while 7% (1 / 15) of AS patients without ANGAU were positive for T. canis (p = 0.038, two tails; mid-p exact). No antibodies were detected to A. lumbricoides antigens in the serum samples of patients with AS.
CONCLUSIONS
These data suggest that the seroprevalence of antibodies to T. canis is high in Mexican patients with AS-associated uveitis, suggesting a chronic asymptomatic toxocariosis, which could be associated with the pathogenesis of ANGAU; however, further larger-scale studies are needed to confirm this observation.

Keyword

Ankylosing-spondylitis; Anterior-uveitis; Toxocariasis

MeSH Terms

Acute Disease
Adult
Aged
Animals
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic/*isolation & purification
Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay
Eye Infections, Parasitic/complications/*immunology/parasitology
Female
Humans
Immunoglobulin G/*immunology
Male
Middle Aged
Seroepidemiologic Studies
Spondylitis, Ankylosing/*complications/immunology/parasitology
Toxocara canis/*immunology/isolation & purification
Toxocariasis/complications/*immunology/parasitology
Uveitis, Anterior/complications/*immunology/parasitology
Young Adult
Antibodies, Anti-Idiotypic
Immunoglobulin G

Figure

• 

  Fig. 1 Dispersion of optical densities (A490) obtained with serum samples from ankylosing spondylitis patients with (AU) and without (AS) a history of acute non-granulomatosus anterior uveitis. Detection of IgG serum antibodies against Toxocara canis and Ascaris lumbricoides was performed by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Reactivity of serum from patients with toxocariosis and ascariasis is shown, respectively, in the positive control (PC) group. The samples of healthy donors were used as the negative control (NC). The horizontal line indicates the cutoff value.

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