View abstract

This abstract is assigned to session Free Papers - Oral Presentations III

Presentation preference	Oral presentation
Title	Use of blood biomarkers for the early identification of corticosteroid refractoriness in non-infectious uveitis
Accept poster if oral is not possible ?	Yes

Purpose	Uveitis is a constellation of diseases characterized by ocular inflammation and is one of the main causes of vision loss in worldwide. Systemic corticosteroids (CS) remain as the cornerstone of treatment in uveitis; however, a significant proportion of patients are non-responsive to CS medication. The aim of this work was to evaluate the expression levels of cytokines and glucocorticoid receptor alpha isoform (GRa) as potential biomarkers for early identification of CS-refractoriness in patients with uveitis.
Methods	Blood was drawn from 19 patients with non-infectious uveitis (NIU) (11 CS-refractory and 8 CS-sensitive patients) at baseline, 7 and 14 days after CS treatment onset. Peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated and the expression of IL6, IL-17A, TNF-α, IL-10 and GRa was assessed using qPCR.
Results	The expression levels of IL6, IL-17A, TNF-α, IL-10 and GRa did not show significant changes between groups at the different treatment timepoints. However, IL-10 expression at day 14 was significantly higher when compared to expression at day 7 in the CS-sensitive group, but not in the CS-refractory patients. Moreover, the IL-6/IL-10, IL-17A/IL-10 and GRa/IL-10 ratios were also higher at day 14 compared to day 7 among CS-sensitive patients. ROC curve analysis shows a robust predictive capability of IL-10 mRNA expression and the IL-6/IL-10 ratio for identifying CS-refractory patients.
Conclusion	The expression of IL-10 and the IL-6/IL-10 ratio hold promise as potential predictive biomarkers for CS-refractoriness in patients with non-infectious uveitis. The use of such biomarkers could improve the effectiveness of uveitis management leading to better clinical outcomes.
Conflict of interest	No

1

Last name	VEGA-TAPIA
Initials of first name(s)	F
Department	Laboratory of Ocular and Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

2

Last name	VALENZUELA
Initials of first name(s)	R
Department	Laboratory of Vascular Immunopharmacology, Center for Biomedicine, Universidad Mayor
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

3

Last name	ELIZALDE
Initials of first name(s)	N
Department	Laboratory of Ocular and Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

4

Last name	FLORES
Initials of first name(s)	I
Department	Laboratory of Ocular and Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile
City	Santuago
Country	Chile

5

Last name	ROJAS
Initials of first name(s)	F
Department	Escuela de Tecnología Médica, Facultad de Medicina, Universidad Andrés Bello
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

6

Last name	Goecke
Initials of first name(s)	A
Department	Rheumatology Section, Medicine Department, Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

7

Last name	CUITINO
Initials of first name(s)	L
Department	Ophthalmology Section, Hospital Clínico de la Universidad de Chile
City	Santiago
Country	Chile

8

Last name	URZUA
Initials of first name(s)	CA
Department	Laboratory of Ocular and Systemic Autoimmune Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, Universidad de Chile
City	Santiago
Country	Chile