[The status and prospects of immunological research in uveitis]

Uveitis is a group of common sight-threatening intraocular inflammatory diseases. Besides of few patients caused by infectious agents, most of patients caused by the autoimmune reactions. In recent years, the basic and clinical researches in the immunology of uveitis had many advances. The complex immunologic mechanisms in uveitis were explained from the levels of cellular and molecular immunology. And the theoretical basis on the treatment of uveitis was established. But there are some unresolved questions existed in the fields of uveitis researches, such as the mechanisms of body defense system to prevent the intraocular inflammation, the pathogenesis of infection that causes the autoimmune response and the autoimmune uveoretinitis, the susceptible gene of uveitis and the related factors associated with occurrence and chronic in uveitis. The deeper studies on these questions will be benefit to the diagnosis and treatment of human refractory uveitis.