| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Evidence for Gut-Eye Axis in Acute Anterior Uveitis |
| Accept poster if oral is not possible ? | Yes |
| Purpose | The precise pathogenesis behind the HLA-B27-associated inflammatory diseases acute anterior uveitis (AAU) and Axial Spondyloarthritis (AxSpa) are still under investigation. Recent studies have implicated RORγt-dependent immune signatures in the pathogenesis of related inflammatory diseases. We developed a novel multi-parametric flow cytometry panel in this study to identify immune dysregulation of these signatures in AAU or AxSpa. |
| Methods | Antibody panels examined cytokine production (GM-CSF, IL-17A, IL-17F, IL-22 and IFNγ) by Mucosal-Associated Invariant T (MAIT) cells and conventional CD4/CD8 T cells. Isolation of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) from AAU patients, AAU patients with concomitant AxSpa or healthy controls (n=9-12/group) was performed. Cells were polyclonally stimulated with PMA/ionomycin and analyzed by flow cytometry. Data were inspected in FlowJo (Tree star Inc.). Statistical analysis was performed with Kruskall-Wallis test with Dunn’s correction for multiple comparisons. |
| Results | MAIT cells exhibited markedly increased IL-17F production in AAU patients with concomitant AxSpA. A significantly increased frequency of IL-22+ve CD8+ T cells as well as IL-22+ve MAIT cells were also observed in those with AAU alone. For conventional lymphocytes, we observed a significantly increased frequency of GM-CSF+ve CD8 T cells in AAU patients vs healthy controls. |
| Conclusion | To our knowledge, this is the first study to implicate MAIT cells in AAU pathogenesis and is consistent with a gut-eye association contributing to AAU. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
Author 1
| Last name | HUANG |
| Initials of first name(s) | J |
| Department | Ophthalmology |
| City | Keelung |
| Country | Taiwan |
Author 2
| Last name | Mitchell |
| Initials of first name(s) | C |
| City | Portland |
| Country | United States |
Author 3
| Last name | Schleisman |
| Initials of first name(s) | M |
| City | Portland |
| Country | United States |
Author 4
| Last name | Watson |
| Initials of first name(s) | L |
| City | Portland |
| Country | United States |
Author 5
| Last name | Rosenbaum |
| Initials of first name(s) | J |
| Department | Ophthalmology |
| City | Portland |
| Country | United States |
Author 6
| Last name | Asquith |
| Initials of first name(s) | M |
| Department | Ophthalmology |
| City | Portland |
| Country | United States |
