Intraocular Levels of Interleukin 17A (IL-17A) and IL-10 as Respective Determinant Markers of Toxoplasmosis and Viral Uveitis

Abstract

e Uveitis is a potentially blinding inflammatory disease. Thirty to 50% of uveitis cases are considered idiopathic. The present study sought to determine the intraocular cytokine patterns in the different etiological types of uveitis in order to better understand their immunological regulation and to determine whether the cytokine pattern may be a useful diagnostic tool. From a multicenter institutional prospective study, the clinical and biological data from patients with uveitis of various etiologies, determined after a complete workup, were compared with those from a control group of cataract patients. A multiplex assay was used to assess the profiles of 27 cytokines and chemokines in aqueous humor samples from these patients. In total, 62 patients with infectious or noninfectious uveitis and 88 controls were included. After a complete workup, the cause of uveitis remained unknown in 25 patients (40% idiopathic uveitis). Interleukin 1␤ (IL-1␤) levels were markedly increased in viral uveitis, as were IL-10 levels, whereas IL-17A levels were augmented in toxoplasmic uveitis. Based on the cytokine pattern, the patients were reassigned to specific groups. At the end of the study, the diagnosis of idiopathic uveitis was still valid in only 11 patients (18%). The observation that some markers are specific to certain diseases enables a better understanding of the disease pathogenesis and paves the way for new diagnostic methods aimed to identify inflammatory markers, which may perhaps be targeted by therapy.

Cytokine Profile in Aqueous Humor of Patients with Ocular Toxocariasis

“…In contrast, IL-10 is known as an anti-in ammatory cytokine that suppresses the expression of proin ammatory cytokines, including TNF-α, IFN-γ, and IL-1β 26 . The intraocular level of IL-10 reported in uveitis is still debatable [27][28][29] . Elevated IL-10 level was associated with uveitis, but lower or no different IL-10 expressions, were also documented in uveitis.…”

An Intraocular Inflammatory Profile of Rubella Associated Uveitis

“…[17][18][19] The high levels of MCP-1 and IL-6 in RVU are consistent with the results measured in other infectious uveitis. 7,[20][21][22] One recent study included RVU patients as controls while studying intraocular profile of cytokines in patients with acute retinal necrosis. 15 This study disclosed cytokine results similar to us (elevated MCP-1 and IL-6).…”

Primate neural retina upregulates IL-6 and IL-10 in response to a herpes simplex vector suggesting the presence of a pro-/anti-inflammatory axis

“…Since hrR3 induces uveitis in NHP but not in mice, it is not clear that data in mice are translatable to NHPs. Recently, however, increased intraocular levels of IL-10 have been linked to viral uveitis in human subjects, and proposed as a diagnostic indicator (Sauer et al, 2015). These data, and our current study which identifies amacrine cells as the main IL-10 positive cell type in NHP retina post hrR3 challenge, suggest a role for IL-10 in modulating HSV-1 induced ocular uveitis.…”