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Abstract
The effective inhibition of S-antigen (S-Ag) induced experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) by Cyclosporine (CsA) suggests strongly the important role of T-cells in the modulation of this disease. The authors evaluated the changes in T-cell subsets induced by this agent in S-Ag immunized Lewis rats. Using the fluorescence-activated cell sorter and monoclonal antibody preparations directed against rat T-cell subsets, a comparison was made between lymphocyte populations obtained from CsA or olive oil treated S-Ag immunized rats taken 5, 10, 12, and 14 days after antigenic challenge. The T-cell subpopulations of lymphocyte preparations from the spleen and peripheral blood of CsA-treated and control animals appeared to parallel each other, with both groups showing an increase in the suppressor/cytotoxic fraction beginning on day 12 and approaching the percentage of inducer cells by day 14. Lymphocyte preparations from lymph nodes draining the site of S-Ag immunization from CsA-treated animals demonstrated a different T-cell subset profile than did controls. Beginning on day 10, the control group was noted to have an increased inducer cell fraction as compared with the CsA group. This increase in the inducer fraction paralleled an increase in the in vitro proliferative responses to the S-Ag. These data suggest that CsA appears to prevent the development of inducer cells in the lymph nodes draining the S-Ag immunization site, the T-cell subgroup the authors have seen capable of inducing EAU.