Immunochemical Analysis of Vitreous and Subretinal Fluid.

Immunochemical analysis of human and bovine vitreous has shown that these structures contain many serum proteins. One of the alpha glolmlins appears to he present in human vitreous in concentrations higher than the serum itself. Pooled human vitreous revealed a precipitating antibody to an extracellular streptococcal antigen. With the most potent antisera available, human vitreous was shown to contain a minimum of 5 to 6 tissue antigens not shared with the serum, whereas bovine vitreous has shown 9 or more such antigens. It is thus clear that the soluble antigens of the vitreous are not entirely derived from plasma. Fifteen subretinal fluids from patients with idiopathic retinal detachments have been shown to contain vitreous "tissue" substances. These findings furnish proof that the vitreous is an integral part of the subretinal fluid, and thus may play an important role in the formation and progression of idiopathic retinal detachment.