• Department of Ophthalmology, Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200031, China Department of Ophthalmology, Eye and ENT Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai 200031, China;
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Objective To examine the levels of interferon- gamma; (INF- gamma;), tumor necrosis factor- alpha; (TNF- alpha;) and interleukin-6(IL-6) in serum of patients with acute uveitis before and after treatment, and to explore the possible roles of those cytokines in the initiation and progression of the uveitis. Methods A series of 75 patients with acute uveitis,and 30 healthy persons from our hospital were investigated. The levels of INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6 in acute phase and convalescent phase were measured by the enzymelinked immunosorbent assay. Result The serum levels of INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6 in acute phase were significantly higher than that of the convalescent phase and the healthy controls (F=65.805/50.418/155.381, P=0.000). A significant negative correlation was found between the serum levels of INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6 in acute phase with their initial visual acuity(r=-0.656, -0.592 and -0.653, P lt;0.01). There was also a positive correlation among the serum levels of INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6(r=0.340, 0.467 and 0.338, P lt;0.05). Conclusions There are high serum levels of INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6 in patients with acute uveitis, and the cytokines levels were decreased after the treatment. The results suggested that the INF- gamma;, TNF- alpha; and IL-6 involved in initiation and progression of uveitis. 

Citation: Yuezhong ZHENG Jichuan SHI. Measurement and significance of serum interferon-γ, tumor necrosis factor-α and interleukin-6 in patients with uveitis. Chinese Journal of Ocular Fundus Diseases, 2008, 24(5): 325-328. doi: Copy