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Updated: Jun 23, 2026
Experimental Autoimmune Uveitis: An Intraocular Inflammatory Mouse Model
Published on: January 12, 2022
Suppression of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis by Anti-IL-17 antibody
Rui Zhang1, Jiang Qian, Jie Guo
1Department of Ophthalmology, Eye and ENT Hospital Affiliated to Fudan University, No. 83, Fenyang Road, Shanghai 200031, China. zhangrui946@sohu.com
Purpose:
To determine whether treatment with anti-IL-17 antibody could suppress the intraocular inflammation of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) in rats.
Methods:
Rats were immunized with interphotoreceptor retinoid binding protein (IRBP) R16 peptide and were treated with anti-IL-17 antibody. Clinical signs of inflammation and ocular histological sections were observed and graded. Cytokine levels of supernatants of cells from draining lymph nodes were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH) and lymphocyte proliferation assay (LPA) were detected.
Results:
Treatment of EAU with anti-IL-17 antibody delayed the onset of ocular inflammation and markedly inhibited the development of EAU. Antigen-specific DTH and LPA were suppressed, whereas the level of interferon (IFN)-gamma produced by draining lymph node cells was increased after treatment with anti-IL-17 antibody. There was no significant change of IL-5 level as compared with control rats.
Conclusions:
These findings demonstrate that blockade of endogenous IL-17 activity by treatment with anti-IL-17 antibody attenuates EAU in rats. IL-17 rather than IFN-gamma plays a crucial role in the development of EAU, and that antagonism of IL-17 could be useful for the treatment of human intraocular autoimmune diseases.
