Abstract
Purpose :
The purpose of this project was to explore the role of microorganisms and local inflammation in the pathogenesis of autoimmune uveitis. In this study, the antibody response to microbes, their presence in the intraocular fluids, and the inflammatory response in patients with autoimmune uveitis was analyzed.
Methods :
Samples of aqueous humor and vitreous from 32 patients with autoimmune uveitis undergoing cataract or retinal surgery, and from 25 controls (patients with cataract, epiretinal membrane, retinal hole or detachment), was collected. Next, we analyzed the intraocular fluid for the presence of selected anti-microbial antibodies (anti-LPS for chlamydiophila, VCA, EBNA EBV, IgA and IgG to Helicobacter pylori and Yersinia enterocolitica) and for the presence of microbial DNA by ELISA or PCR, respectively. The cytokine profiles of uveitis and control patients were compared by Label-based antibody array, capable to detect over 500 different proteins in one sample.
Results :
Intraocular fluids of 7 uveitis patients were positive for EBNA IgG (5 aqueous humor, 2 vitreous samples) and another 4 were positive for anti-H. pylori IgG (2 aqueous humor, 2 vitreous samples), in contrast all samples from controls were negative. Microbial DNA was not detected in all tested intraocular fluid samples. Local inflammatory markers differ significantly between uveitis and control samples, including chemokine and cytokine receptors, and pro-angiogenic factors.
Conclusions :
The inflammatory response in autoimmune uveitis might be triggered by microbial infection in the past history as the presence of anamnestic antibodies in the intraocular fluids suggests.
This is an abstract that was submitted for the 2018 ARVO Annual Meeting, held in Honolulu, Hawaii, April 29 - May 3, 2018.