Case Reports: Chemokine and Cytokine Profiling in Patients with Herpetic Uveitis

Nam V Nguyen; Susanne L Linderman; Tolulope Fashina; Max Devine; Christopher D Conrady; Jessica G Shantha; Rafi Ahmed; Steven Yeh

doi:10.2147/IMCRJ.S496941

Case Reports: Chemokine and Cytokine Profiling in Patients with Herpetic Uveitis

Int Med Case Rep J. 2024 Dec 19:17:1055-1061. doi: 10.2147/IMCRJ.S496941. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Nam V Nguyen^#^{1

2}, Susanne L Linderman^#³, Tolulope Fashina^#¹, Max Devine^{1

2}, Christopher D Conrady^{1

4}, Jessica G Shantha^{5

6}, Rafi Ahmed^#³, Steven Yeh^#^{1

6}

Affiliations

¹ Department of Ophthalmology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
² College of Medicine, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
³ Emory Vaccine Center, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.
⁴ Department of Pathology and Microbiology, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE, USA.
⁵ Department of Ophthalmology, University of California San Francisco, San Francisco, CA, USA.
⁶ Department of Ophthalmology, Emory University School of Medicine, Atlanta, GA, USA.

^# Contributed equally.

Abstract

Purpose: To report cytokine/chemokine profiles of ocular fluid in two patients with herpetic uveitis.

Methods: Cytokine and chemokine profiling of ocular fluid was performed in two patients with herpetic uveitis. Ocular fluid findings were correlated with disease manifestations and the patients' clinical course.

Observation: Case 1 was a 45-year-old female, who was evaluated for an 11-day history of recurrent redness, and decreased vision in the right eye (OD) and was diagnosed with acute retinal necrosis. Ocular fluid from anterior chamber paracentesis was positive for varicella zoster virus (VZV) via PCR testing. Subsequently, the patient developed proliferative vitreoretinopathy requiring a pars plana vitrectomy. Ocular fluid sample cytokine/chemokine analysis detected IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-8, IL-18, MIP-1β, IP-10, and MCP-1 with MCP-1 being the most abundant cytokine. Case 2 was a 30-year-old female with a two-month history of progressive pain and decreased vision OD. She was diagnosed with hypertensive anterior uveitis after diagnostic anterior chamber paracentesis. Despite successful therapy for the anterior uveitis, her intraocular pressure remained elevated and required a glaucoma filtration procedure. Ocular fluid sample was collected at the time of surgery for cytokine/chemokine profiles analysis, and levels of 7 cytokines/chemokines were detected including IL-6, IL-8, IL-18, MIP-1β, IP-10, MCP-1, and IL-1RA with IL-1RA being the most abundant cytokine.

Conclusion: Cytokine/chemokine profiles of two patients with herpetic uveitis showed elevated levels of MCP-1, IP-10, IL-8, and IL-18 while IL-1RA was elevated in the chronic phase of hypertensive anterior uveitis. Further studies of cytokines and chemokines will improve our understanding of soluble mediators and potential targets for herpetic uveitis.

Keywords: acute retinal necrosis; anterior hypertensive uveitis; case reports; chemokine; cytokine.

Publication types

Case Reports

Grants and funding

This project was supported by the National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01 EY029594 (SY) and K23 EY030158 (JS). The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health or the views or policies of the Department of Health and Human Services, nor does mention of trade names, commercial products, or organizations imply endorsement by the US Government. Funding support is also provided by the Macula Society Retina Research Foundation Cox Family Grant, Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology Mallinckrodt Foundation Young Investigator Award, and the Stanley M. Truhlsen Family Foundation, Inc. CDC was supported in part by a Knights Templar Eye Foundation career development award and competitive renewal, IDeA-CTR career development award, and National Eye Institute of the National Institutes of Health award number K08 EY034892.