Related Experiment Video
Updated: Aug 9, 2026
Real Time In Vivo Tracking of Thymocytes in the Anterior Chamber of the Eye by Laser Scanning Microscopy
Published on: October 2, 2018
ICAM-1 expression on the surface of T lymphocytes in patients with uveitis: a comparative study between the eye and
Carmen Marcos Martin1, Manuel Santos Lacomba, Carlos Ignacio Serrano Molina
1Department of Ophthalmology, San Juan de la Cruz Hospital, Jaen, Spain. med000346@nacom.es
Insights
In active uveitis, CD4+ T cells expressing ICAM-1 are increased in the eye but decreased in the blood. This suggests a greater local role for CD4+ICAM-1+ cells in uveitis pathogenesis.
Area of Science:
- Immunology
- Ophthalmology
Background:
- Uveitis is an inflammatory eye condition.
- Intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) plays a role in immune cell trafficking.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate ICAM-1 expression on T lymphocytes within the eye and peripheral blood of uveitis patients.
Main Methods:
- Flow cytometry was used to analyze CD4, CD8, and ICAM-1 expression on T cells from aqueous humor and peripheral blood.
- Patients with active uveitis (n=23) and controls (n=16) were studied.
Main Results:
- Uveitis patients showed increased CD4+ and CD8+ T cells expressing ICAM-1 in aqueous humor compared to controls.
- Peripheral blood revealed decreased CD4+ICAM-1+ and CD8+ICAM-1+ cells in uveitis patients.
- CD4+ICAM-1+ cells were significantly higher in aqueous humor than peripheral blood.
Conclusions:
- CD4+ T cells expressing ICAM-1 appear to play a significant local role in uveitis pathogenesis.
- CD8+ T cells expressing ICAM-1 may not have a similar localized role in uveitis.
Purpose:
We studied the surface expression of intracellular adhesion molecule 1 (ICAM-1) on peripheral and intra-ocular T lymphocytes in patients with active uveitis.
Methods:
Two-colour flow-cytometric analysis was performed on cells isolated from aqueous humour and peripheral blood of 23 patients with active uveitis and 16 control patients who were to undergo cataract extraction, in order to determine the percentage of cells expressing CD4, CD8 and ICAM-1 (CD54) molecules.
Results:
In the aqueous humour of patients with uveitis, we found an increase in the percentage of CD4+ and CD8+ lymphocytes, co-expressing the ICAM-1 molecule as compared to control patients (p < 0.0001). In peripheral blood, these uveitis patients exhibited a significant decrease in the percentage of CD4+ICAM-1+ (p = 0.0106) and CD8+ICAM-1+ (p = 0.0014) as compared to control subjects. The comparative study of cells from the aqueous humour and peripheral blood showed that the percentage of CD4+ICAM-1+ cells was higher in the aqueous humour (p < 0.0001). Comparison of the aqueous humour and peripheral blood for CD8+ICAM-1+ cells revealed no significant differences. In addition, we found a high negative correlation for the CD8+ICAM-1+ subset between the aqueous humour and peripheral blood.
Conclusions:
Our results suggest a greater local participation for CD4+ICAM-1+ cells but not for CD8+ICAM-1+ cells in the pathogenesis of uveitis.
