Abstract
Purpose: :
To determine the cytokine profile in the aqueous humour of patients with tuberculosis (TB)-associated uveitis (TAU).
Methods: :
Aqueous humour samples were collected from 12 eyes of 12 patients with TAU, 8 idiopathic acute anterior uveitis (AAU) patients in the uveitis clinic and 23 cataract subjects during phacoemulsification surgery in this prospective case-controlled study. TAU was diagnosed using recognized criteria: positive Mantoux test, positive response to anti-TB treatment and absence of underlying diseases that could cause uveitis. A multiplexed cytokine analysis was used to quantify the presence of 20 proinflammatory cytokines in the aqueous.
Results: :
Mean age of TAU patients was 51 years (range 16-69 yrs), mean age of AAU patients was 54 years (range 33-79 yrs) and mean age of cataract patients was 66 years (range 25-89 yrs). Principal component analysis of cytokine profile revealed separated clusters for TAU and cataract aqueous samples. Significant differences were found in the concentration of CCL3 (MIP-1α) (3.02±1.01 vs 0.76±0.26, mean±std err, p=0.007), CCL5 (RANTES) (39.13±12.83 vs 7.54±1.36, p=0.004) and CXCL10 (IP-10) (57739.8±19982.3 vs 360.5±217.1, p=0.001) between TAU and cataract patients samples. Between TAU aqueous samples and idiopathic AAU sample, significant differences were found in the concentrations of interleukin-2 (IL-2) (3.6±0.52 vs 0.0±0.00, p=0.03), IL-7 (1.6±0.23 vs 9.0±2.93, p=0.001), IL-12 (7.4±1.64 vs 0.3±0.26, p=0.018), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-a) (15.5±2.07 vs 3.7±3.07, p=0.006) and interferon-α2 (IFNα2) (35.8±7.46 vs 2.0±1.28, p=0.025).
Conclusions: :
TAU patients exhibit different aqueous cytokine profiles than idiopathic AAU or cataract patients.
Keywords: uveitis-clinical/animal model • inflammation • cytokines/chemokines