[Serologic diagnosis and follow-up in patients with uveitis. Antibodies to virulence antigens of Yersinia enterocolitica].

Sera from 72 patients with uveitis and sera from 93 healthy blood donors were analyzed by an immunoblot technique for antibodies to plasmid-encoded virulence associated antigens of Yersinia enterocolitica. In the group of patients with acute anterior uveitis (n = 16), antibodies of the classes IgA, IgG, IgM were significantly increased in comparison to the healthy blood donors. The presence of IgA antibodies is a sign of acute or persistent Yersinia infection. For the other forms of uveitis these antibodies were not identifiable in such a significant number of patients. After 2 years, clinical and serological investigations were carried out again in these patients. At the time of the second investigation, 25/72 (34.7%) of these patients showed intraocular inflammatory activity (group 1), but in 47/72 (65.3%) ophthalmological inflammation was no longer present (group 2). The serological investigation of group 1 and group 2 showed no significant difference in the antibody response to Y. enterocolitica. From these results we conclude that a persistent or acute Yersinia infection is a possible trigger for acute anterior uveitis. To investigate an infection with Yersinia enterocolitica, a method demonstrating antibodies to the plasmid encoded antigens of Y. enterocolitica must be employed, because the virulence and the persistence of infection can only be analyzed by this technique.