[Peripheral leukocyte adhesion molecules in patients of Behçet's disease associated with active ocular lesions]

The sequential cascades in leukocyte adhesion and migration are important events in the development of inflammatory and immune responses in Behçet's disease. In an attempt to clarify the relation of active ocular lesions to inflammatory reactions covering entire body, we have detected LECAM-1, Mac-1 and CD44 expressed on the peripheral leukocytes in 24 Behçet patients and 15 healthy adults by flow cytometry. LECAM-1 and CD44 expression was dramatically decreased from the polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMN) upon ocular attacks, whereas the changes in Mac-1 appeared not so striking. This tendency had continued into the recovery stage of ocular inflammation. T lymphocytes showed, on the other hand, no considerable variability in regard to the expression of cell surface LECAM-1, CD44 and also of Mac-1 even at the peak of active ocular inflammation. The results suggest that interaction between PMN and primed vascular endothelial cells might be apt to precede functional modifications of T lymphocytes, and it is also supposed that facilitation of activated PMN recruitment plays an essential role on ocular inflammation in Behçet's disease.