Soluble ICAM-1 serum levels in patients with intermediate uveitis.

AIM: To investigate whether serum levels of soluble intercellular adhesion molecule 1 (sICAM-1) can serve as a marker of the presence of systemic disease in intermediate uveitis. METHODS: In a multicentre study sICAM-1 serum levels were measured in 61 patients with idiopathic intermediate uveitis, controls included 56 uveitis patients with a systemic disease (26 sarcoid associated uveitis and 30 HLA-B27 positive acute anterior uveitis), 58 uveitis patients without systemic disease (30 toxoplasma chorioretinitis and 28 Fuchs' hetrochromic cyclitis), and 21 normal controls. The clinical records of the patients with intermediate uveitis were analysed for disease characteristics at the time of blood sampling and for a relation with the development of a systemic disease after a mean follow up of 4.5 years. RESULTS: Increased serum levels of sICAM-1 were found in 34 out of 61 patients with intermediate uveitis and were significantly different when compared with toxoplasmosis, Fuchs' cyclitis, and healthy controls (p<0.001). Elevated sICAM-1 levels were also found in 18 out of 26 patients with sarcoid uveitis and in 11 out of 30 patients with HLA-B27 associated anterior uveitis. Raised sICAM-1 levels in the intermediate uveitis group were significantly associated with active ocular disease (p<0.01) and the presence of vitreous exudates (p<0.05). Increased levels of sICAM-1 correlated with interleukin 8 levels (IL-8) (tested in a previous study in the same group of intermediate uveitis patients) in patients with active systemic involvement. Follow up of the patients showed that an established or suspected systemic disease was found more often in the 21 intermediate uveitis patients with increased sICAM-1 and IL-8 levels compared with the other 40 patients with intermediate uveitis (p<0.01). CONCLUSIONS: The measurement of both sICAM-1 and IL-8 can be used as a marker for ocular disease activity and for a predisposition of developing an associated systemic disease in intermediate uveitis patients.

Elevated serum IL-8 levels are associated with disease activity in idiopathic intermediate uveitis.

AIM: To find a laboratory indicator for systemic involvement in intermediate uveitis. METHODS: Interleukin 8 (IL-8) and C reactive protein (CRP) serum levels were measured in patients with idiopathic intermediate uveitis (n = 61), uveitis controls (n = 143), and normal controls (n = 29). The records of those with intermediate uveitis were reviewed with the emphasis on disease activity and severity as characterised by the presence of cystoid macular oedema, vitreous exudates or snowbank formation, papillitis, and periphlebitis. RESULTS: Increased serum IL-8 (> or = 20 pg/ml) was found in 27 out of 61 patients with intermediate uveitis (p < 0.01), 12 of 27 patients with sarcoid uveitis (p < 0.05), in 19 of 30 patients with HLA-B27 associated acute anterior uveitis (p < 0.05), and in five of 29 healthy controls. Raised IL-8 levels in intermediate uveitis were significantly associated with active disease (p < 0.001) and the presence of vitreous exudates (p < 0.001), papillitis, and periphlebitis (p < 0.01). Elevated CRP levels were found in 12 of the 143 uveitis controls but in none of the intermediate uveitis patients or normal controls. During follow up an associated systemic disease was more frequently noticed in patients with an elevated serum IL-8 at entry into the study. CONCLUSIONS: Elevated IL-8 serum levels were found in patients with active intermediate uveitis of unknown origin. An elevated IL-8 level seems to predispose the patient to a later development of associated systemic disease.

Increased presence of Epstein-Barr virus DNA in ocular fluid samples from HIV negative immunocompromised patients with uveitis.

AIMS: To investigate whether routine testing for Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) is necessary in the examination of a patient with uveitis. METHODS: Intraocular EBV DNA was determined in 183 ocular fluid samples taken from patients with AIDS and uveitis, HIV negative immunocompromised uveitis, acute retinal necrosis, toxoplasma chorioretinitis, intraocular lymphoma, anterior uveitis, and miscellaneous uveitis of unknown cause. In 82 samples from this group of patients paired serum/ocular fluid analysis was performed to detect local antibody production against EBV. Controls (n = 46) included ocular fluid samples taken during surgery for diabetic retinopathy, macular pucker, or cataract. RESULTS: Serum antibody titres to EBV capsid antigen proved to be significantly increased in HIV negative immunocompromised patients with uveitis (p < 0.01) compared with controls. Local antibody production revealed only three positive cases out of 82 patients tested, two results were borderline positive and one patient had uveitis caused by VZV. EBV DNA was detected in three out of 46 control ocular fluid samples. In the different uveitis groups EBV DNA was noted, but was not significantly higher than in the controls, except in six out of 11 HIV negative immunocompromised patients (p = 0.0008). In four out of these six cases another infectious agent (VZV, HSV, CMV, or Toxoplasma gondii) had previously been identified as the cause of the uveitis. CONCLUSIONS: When comparing various groups of uveitis patients, EBV DNA was found more often in HIV negative immunocompromised patients with uveitis. Testing for EBV does not have to be included in the routine management of patients with uveitis, since indications for an important role of this virus were not found in the pathogenesis of intraocular inflammation.

Anticardiolipin antibodies in uveitis.

Anticardiolipin antibodies (ACA) have been described in association with thrombosis and several vascular diseases and may be involved in retinal vasculitis. To investigate this question we tested sera from 86 patients with posterior uveitis and 100 healthy controls for the presence of anticardiolipin antibodies. The antibody was present in 15 patients: in 7 of the patients with acute retinal necrosis (n = 24), in 4 with idiopathic retinal vasculitis (n = 10), 3 with syphilis (n = 6) and in one SLE patient with retinal vasculitis. Ten patients had IgA-type anticardiolipin antibodies, 6 had IgM-type and 4 had IgG-type anticardiolipin antibodies. Anticardiolipin antibodies could not be detected in sera from uveitis patients with Behçet's disease (n = 10), sarcoid (n = 9), toxoplasmosis (n = 7), multiple sclerosis (n = 3) or Birdshot chorioretinopathy (n = 10). Ten of the healthy controls had cardiolipin antibodies of the IgM class. The exact role of these auto-antibodies in the pathogenesis of retinal vasculitis remains to be resolved.

Antibodies against ocular and oral antigens in Behçet's disease associated with uveitis.

An indirect immunofluorescence test (IIF) using guinea pig lip as a substrate was performed with sera from 10 patients with Behçet's disease and the results were compared to IIF with sera of 16 patients with uveitis of Turkish origin, 62 patients with non- Behçet's uveitis, 9 patients with stomatitis aphtosa and 34 healthy controls. Antibodies to guinea pig lip cytoplasmic antigens were present in 70% of the Behçet patients, in 19% of uveitis patients of Turkish origin (P less than 0.05), in 12% of the non Behçet uveitis patients (P less than 0.001), in 11% of the stomatitis aphtosa patients (P less than 0.05) and in 9% of the healthy controls (P less than 0.001). A positive Behçet serum preincubated with the supernatant of guinea pig lip sections incubated in PBS gave an inhibition on the IIF test, indicating that the antigen involved in a soluble cytoplasmic substance. No significant increase in the presence of antibodies against iris, cornea or retina (mouse eye) were detected in the Behçet sera. Of interest was the finding of a positive reaction in 6 out of 10 patients in the episcleral region of the mouse eye. This positive reaction resembles immune complex like material. Our findings suggest that using the external surface of the guinea pig lip as a substrate is useful in selecting out those patients with Behçet's disease from uveitis patients with an unknown etiology and from patients with aphtous stomatitis.