Uveitis or intraocular inflammation is a major cause of blindness. Therapy for uveitis is often inadequate. The goals of this proposal are to determine what mediates intraocular inflammation; to determine how different etiologies of inflammation compare; and to develop novel therapies for uveitis. In order to achieve these goals, we propose to determine if interleukin-4 and/or interleukin-10 induce ocular inflammation after direct injection; explore potential antiinflammatory effects of interleukin-4, interleukin-8, and interleukin-10 in animal models; utilize immunohistology and messenger RNA amplification to detect cytokines and adhesion molecules in iris biopsies in patients or animals with various forms of uveitis; utilize inhibitors of the selectin family of adhesion molecules to block anterior uveitis in animal models; test lazaroids as a novel form of antiinflammatory therapy for uveitis; and define clinical aspects of uveitis using the data base at the Oregon Health Sciences University.
These aims should help to improve the understanding of uveitis and may lead to improved therapies.
