Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines of leukocytes which play a critical role in various inflammatory diseases. In this study, we investigated whether serum levels of chemokines in patients with uveitis were characterized by their primary diseases. Methods: Serum samples were obtained from 37 patients with uveitis [14 patients with sarcoidosis, 12 patients with Vogt–Koyanagi–Harada (VKH) syndrome, 11 patients with Behcet's disease (BD)], and 18 healthy volunteers as control. The concentrations of interferon–gamma–inducible protein–10 (IP–10), monocyte chemotactic protein–1 (MCP–1), monokine induced by gamma interferon (MIG), and IL–8 were simultaneously measured by cytometric bead array. We also correlated the individual serum chemokine levels with the white blood cell (WBC) counts, ESR, and IgG concentrations. Results: Serum levels of both IP–10 and MIG were predominantly elevated in sarcoidosis and BD patients compared with those of VKH patients or healthy volunteers [IP–10 concentrations (mean±SEM) were: sarcoidosis 2068.3±217.8, BD 1123.7±167.6, VKH 426.5±107.7, healthy volunteers 328.1±64.3. MIG concentrations (mean±SEM) were: sarcoidosis 2278.7±526.3, BD 1514.4±562.8, VKH 500.6±101.5, healthy volunteers 568.2±138.1.]. MCP–1 was detected in all groups of patients with uveitis and in healthy subjects, with no significant differences (sarcoidosis 211.6±59.8, BD 133.3±15.2, VKH 103.1±24.0, healthy volunteers 137.8±45.7). IL–8 was undetectable in all samples. No correlation of serum levels of IP–10 or MIG with WBC, ESR and IgG was observed. Conclusions: Since IL–10 and MIG are ligands of CXCR3, a chemokine receptor expressed on Th1–type cells, these chemokines may regulate trafficking of Th1–type cells responsible for the pathogenesis of uveitis in BD and sarcoidosis.
Keywords: cytokines/chemokines • uveitis–clinical/animal model