Intraocular inflammatory disease (uveitis) and the use of oral tolerance: a status report.

Abstract

Intraocular inflammatory disease, or uveitis, is a disorder that mostly affects children and young adults. It is the cause of about 10% of the severe visual handicap in the United States. Many of the severe, sight-threatening uveitic conditions are thought to be driven by putative autoimmune mechanisms, often with high-dose oral prednisone use as treatment, along with cytotoxic agents, antimetabolites, and cyclosporine adjunctively. The feeding of the uveitogenic retinal S-Ag to rats immunized with the same antigen resulted in clinical protection. A pilot study in which two patients, one with pars planitis and the other with Behcet's disease, were fed with the retinal S-Ag resulted in these patients' immunosuppressive medication being decreased and/or stopped. The trial also provided us with information concerning dosage and expected immune responses. A randomized, masked study looking at the effect of feeding retinal antigens to uveitis patients is ongoing.

• Authors: R B Nussenblatt, S M Whitcup, M D de Smet, R R Caspi, A T Kozhich, H L Weiner, B Vistica, I Gery
• Journal: Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences (Ann N Y Acad Sci) Vol. 778 Pg. 325-37 (Feb 13 1996) ISSN: 0077-8923 [Print] United States
• PMID: 8610986 (Publication Type: Journal Article, Review)

Chemical References

• Antigens
• Arrestin
• Autoantigens
• Eye Proteins

Topics

• Administration, Oral
• Adult
• Animals
• Antigens (administration & dosage, immunology)
• Arrestin
• Autoantigens (administration & dosage, immunology)
• CD8-Positive T-Lymphocytes (immunology)
• Cells, Cultured
• Child
• Clinical Trials as Topic
• Eye Proteins (administration & dosage, immunology)
• Humans
• Immune Tolerance
• Lymph Nodes (immunology)
• Lymphocyte Activation
• Mice
• Pilot Projects
• Rats
• Rats, Inbred Lew
• Uveitis (immunology, prevention & control, therapy)