Background: Although autoimmune humoral abnormalities have been reported in patients with myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS), abnormal organ-specific cellular autoimmunity has not been demonstrated.
Methods: Peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBLs) and serum were collected from a uveitis patient with MDS. Cellular immune response against retinal S-antigen (S-Ag) was assessed by proliferation assay, and humoral immune response to S-Ag was measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbant assay.
Results: PBLs from the patient exhibited vigorous proliferation against S-Ag, while humoral immune response against S-Ag was not detectable. PBLs from controls did not proliferate against S-Ag.
Conclusion: These results provide new evidence that abnormal cellular immune responses against autoantigens may develop in MDS patients, thus leading to organ-specific autoimmune diseases such as uveitis, in addition to other systemic autoimmune disorders.