Uveitis, an acute or chronic inflammation of the uveal tissue of the eye, and keratitis, an inflammation of corneal tissue, may have their cause in bacterial, protozoal or viral infection. No etiological agent can be found in some patients. In these cases therapy has to be of symptomatic nature. One of the major causes of destruction of ocular tissues in uveitis and keratitis is the production of lysosomal enzymes by infiltrating white blood cells. Inhibition of either cellular infiltration of tissue or the prevention of lysosomal enzyme release by these cells will lead to less destruction of ocular tissue. In this study we investigated the prevention of cellular infiltration of ocular tissue by topical or systemic administration of agents interfering with lipid mediators. An Arthus reaction (delayed hypersensitivity reaction) of the cornea or uvea of the rabbit eye can be initiated by injection of antigen in respectively the corneal stroma or vitreous body. The clinical symptoms of the subsequent antigenantibody reaction in the cornea are conjunctival hyperemia, an annular infiltration with leukocytes (ring of Wessely), stromal edema, and neovascularization of the cornea.l Symptoms of the Arthus reaction elicited by intravitreal injection of an antigen are blood-aqueous barrier breakdown (visible with a slitlamp as a flare) and the presence of infiltrated leukocytes in the anterior chamber and vitreous body. 2 ' 3 Phospholipid derivatives may act as mediators in human and animal inflammatory disease. These derivatives of cell membrane phospholipids are platelet-activating factor (PAF) and arachidonic acid. Arachidonic acid can be further metabolized to prostaglandins (PGs) and leukotrienes (LTs).

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Erasmus University Rotterdam
P.T.V.M. de Jong (Paulus)
hdl.handle.net/1765/50798
Erasmus MC: University Medical Center Rotterdam

Verbey, N. L. J. (1990, October 24). Lipid mediators in ocular inflammatory models. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/1765/50798