Circulating antibodies to corneal tissue in a patient suffering from Mooren's ulcer (ulcus rodens corneae)

Abstract

Autoantibodies to human corneal epithelium were demonstrated by the immunofluorescent technique in the serum of a patient suffering from ulcus rodens corneae (Mooren's ulcer). These antibodies were demonstrated in serum obtained before lamellar keratoplasty, and in samples taken 1½ and 4 years, respectively, after operation, when the process had reached the terminal stage. No antibodies fixed in vivo were demonstrated in the patient's own corneal tissue using the direct immunofluorescent technique.

However, in the serum of three other patients suffering from the same disease no antibodies could be demonstrated. Two of these sera were from patients who had undergone keratoplasty.