The populations of CD56
+ T cells, especially in the subsets CD8
highCD56
+ and CD56
+γδ T cells, were significantly increased in the peripheral blood of patients with active Behçet’s uveitis versus control subjects
(Table 2) . After Cs/Pd treatment, the populations of CD56
+ T-cell subsets normalized (
Table 2 ;
Fig. 2 ). In patients and healthy control subjects, CD56
+ T cells were separated on the basis of CD56 expression, and the CD56
bright cells dominated CD8
highCD56
+ T cells, whereas CD56
dim cells dominated CD56
+ γδ T cells. Furthermore, the MFIs of CD56 on CD56
+ T-cell subsets were also significantly higher at the pretreatment stage than in healthy control subjects and returned to normal levels after treatment (MFI: for CD8
high, 427 ± 49 vs. 308 ± 43 and 334 ± 48; for γδ, 59 ± 5 vs. 47 ± 3 and 51 ± 2, respectively). In contrast, total T-lymphocyte counts and the absolute numbers of CD3
+CD56
− cells were no different before and after treatment in patients with Behçet’s. The population of CD4
+CD56
− cells was depressed before treatment, but recovered to a normal level after treatment. The number of CD8
highCD56
− cells and Vα24
+CD56
− cells was similar in patients and healthy control subjects and did not change after treatment
(Table 2) . However, CD56
−γδ T cells were significantly increased in the peripheral blood of patients with active Behçet’s uveitis versus control subjects and then decreased after Cs/Pd treatment
(Table 2) . Given that topical steroids may inhibit the activation of lymphocytes by downregulating ocular inflammation, we measured the proportions of lymphocytes subsets in the peripheral blood of 10 patients with idiopathic anterior uveitis before and after 4 weeks of topical steroid treatment. We found that the proportions of lymphocyte subsets such as CD56
+ T cells were similar before and after treatment in these patients (data not shown).