[Role of impaired immune response regulatory processes in the pathogenesis of uveitis associated with rheumatic diseases]

The study was undertaken to define a role of immunological damage reactions in the pathogenesis of uveitis in the presence of rheumatic diseases on the basis of an in-depth analysis of the immunological characteristics of the disease. A complex immunological study was made in 76 rheumatic patients with uveitis in the acute phase of eye diseases. Among the patients, the males and females were 67.1 and 32.9%, respectively; their mean age was 41+/-6.4 years. The authors made CD typing of lymphocytes, by evaluating the processes of their activation and apoptosis, estimated the amount of the cytokines IL-4, IFN-gamma, TNF-alpha, and soluble TNF-alpha receptor in the serum and tear. The authors have established the following characteristics of an immune response in rheumatic patients with uveitis: a predominant impairment of cellular immunity with an increase in the processes of positive activation of lymphocytes and a reduction in the processes of their apoptosis; formation of Th1 deviation of systemic and local immune responses; elevated levels of the proinflammatory cytokine TNF-alpha in the blood and in the tear in particular. Humoral immunity was found to be activated with a rise in the levels of immunoglobulins of all classes and circulating immune complexes.