Quantitative Study Of Cytokines In Aqueous Humor Of Four Common Uveitis Entitis

Purpose: To investigate aqueous cytokine profiles in acute anterior uveitis(AAU),Fuchs’ syndrome,Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada(VKH)disease and Behcet’s disease(BD).To explore the effect of the control duration of intraocular inflammation on aqueous cytokine levels and the effect on the improvement of best-corrected visual acuity after cataract surgery.Methods: The concentrations of 17 cytokines were assayed by multiplex immunoassay in aqueous humor(AqH)collected during cataract surgery from 24 AAU,29 Fuchs’ syndrome,29 VKH disease,30 BD and30 senile cataract control patients.Clinical information including ocular and extraocular manifestations was collected.Uveitis patients were divided into groups according to the control duration of intraocular inflammation,we compared aqueous cytokine levels and the improvement of best-corrected visual acuity after cataract surgery between these groups.Chi-square test was used for the comparison of classified data.For analysis of non-normal data,we used the Kruskal-Wallis test to compare different entities and the Mann-Whitney test to compare two independent groups.The p value was adjusted using Bonferroni correction to compensate formultiple comparisons.Statistical significance was considered at p values less than 0.05.Results: We observed that the levels of interleukin(IL)-8 and macrophage inflammatory protein(MIP)-1β were significantly elevated in AAU,Fuchs’ syndrome,VKH disease and BD compared to controls(IL-8:P<0.001、<0.001、<0.001、<0.001,MIP-1β:P<0.001、<0.001、< 0.002 、 < 0.022).Aqueous levels of interferon(IFN)-γ,monocyte chemotactic protein(MCP)-1,MIP-1β and tumor necrosis factor(TNF)-αlevels in AqH from patients with Fuchs’ syndrome were significantly higher than those in the other three uveitis entities.There was no difference in aqueous cytokine levels or improvement of best-corrected visual acuity with cases having cataract surgery with different control duration of intraocular inflammation.Conclusion: IL-8 and MIP-1β are common chemokines in the intraocular environment of the four uveitis entities investigated.Chinese patients with Fuchs’ syndrome appear to have a specific cytokine profile.Aqueous cytokine profiles and vision tests support the performance of cataract surgery in uveitis within 3 months after intraocular inflammation control.