Abstract
Abstract: :
Purpose: To study the effect of Interleukin-1 (IL-1) and Interleukin-6 (IL-6) on the growth and melanogenesis of cultured uveal melanocytes (UM). Methods: Human UM were isolated and cultured from donor eyes as previously reported. Early passages of UM were plated into multi-well plates and cultured with complete medium (F12 medium with 20 ng/ml bFGF, 1 mM IBMX, 10 ng/ml cholera toxin and 10% serum). IL-1α or IL-6 was added to the culture medium at various concentrations. Each group was performed in triplicate. Cells cultured with the complete medium without ILs were used as controls. After 6 days, cells were detached and counted. Melanin content was measured spectrophotometrically. Results: UM cultured with complete medium grew well and produced melanin in vitro. Both IL-1α and IL-6 significantly inhibited growth and melanogenesis in a dose-dependent manner (IL-1 α, 0.01-10 ng/ml; IL-6, 10-300 ng/ml). The cell number of IL-1α and IL-6 treated groups was 52% (IL-1α, 10 ng/ml) and 72% (IL-6, 100 ng/ml) of the controls, respectively. Conclusions: It has been reported that some inflammatory mediators (e.g. Prostaglandin E) stimulate the growth and melanogenesis of UM in vitro. However, the UM in vivo do not respond to inflammation or immune reaction. The growth inhibiting effect of ILs may counteract the stimulating effect of PGE or other stimulatory mediators to maintain the stability of UM observed in vivo during inflammatory events.
Keywords: melanocytes • inflammation