Current Molecular Medicine - Volume 15, Issue 6, 2015

The “classical” EAU model induced by immunization of mice with the retinal protein IRBP or its peptides has been very useful to study basic mechanisms of ocular inflammation, but is inadequate for some types of studies due to the need for active immunization in the context of strong bacterial adjuvants. We generated transgenic (Tg) mice on the B10.RIII background that express a T cell receptor (TCR) specific for IRBP Read More

Uveitis is a diverse group of potentially sight-threatening intraocular inflammatory diseases of infectious or autoimmune etiology and accounts for more than 10% of severe visual handicaps in the United States. Pathology derives from the presence of inflammatory cells in the optical axis and sustained production of cytotoxic cytokines and other immuneregulatory proteins in the eye. The main therapeutic goals are to down-re Read More

Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease is considered to be an autoimmune disease possibly triggered by an abnormal response to infection. Activation of TLRs signaling pathways by microbial products can drive inflammatory responses and adaptive immunity. In the present study, we investigated the role of TLRs in the pathogenesis of VKH disease. We showed that the expression of TLR3 and TLR4, but not TLR2, was si Read More

Purpose: To evaluate cytokine expression profile in aqueous humor and sera in patients with HLAB27 associated acute anterior uveitis (AAU) and idiopathic AAU. Methods: Twenty patients with AAU and 17 controls were recruited from August 2012 to March 2013. Study subjects with uveitis were divided into two groups: 9 patients with idiopathic AAU and 11 patients with HLA-B27 associated AAU. Complete ophthalmological e Read More

Mouse models of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU) mimic unique features of human uveitis, and serve as a template for preclinical study. The “classical” EAU model is induced by active immunization of mice with the retinal protein IRBP in adjuvant, and has proved to be a useful tool to study basic mechanisms and novel therapy in human uveitis. Several spontaneous models of uveitis induced by autoreactive T cells targ Read More

Uveitis refers to a group of ocular inflammatory diseases that can lead to blindness. For years, researchers have been trying to decipher the underlying mechanisms and develop therapeutic strategies using the model of experimental autoimmune uveitis (EAU). Recently, αA-crystallin has been found to be upregulated in EAU and can even ameliorate its severity through different mechanisms, suggesting its use as a potent Read More

Uveitis represents a spectrum of diseases characterized by ocular inflammation that leads to significant visual loss if left untreated. Adequate, long-term control of inflammation with minimal systemic and local adverse effects is the preferred strategy for treating patients with uveitis. Pharmacotherapy for uveitis consists mainly of corticosteroids in various formulations such as topical, local, intraocular and systemic. H Read More

Purpose: To evaluate the thicknesses of individual retinal layers, and the correlation between structural changes and functional loss using spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) scans and electroretinograms (ERG), in eyes with autoimmune retinopathy (AIR). Methods: SD-OCT raster scans of 12 eyes from 6 patients serologically diagnosed with AIR were evaluated. Retinal layers were segmented along a 5 Read More