Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science, Vol 34, 3522-3525, Copyright © 1993 by Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology

ARTICLES AND REPORTS

Serum levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha and interleukin-6 in ocular cicatricial pemphigoid

SJ Lee, Z Li, B Sherman and CS Foster
Department of Ophthalmology, Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary, Harvard Medical School, Boston 02114.

PURPOSE. These studies examined regulation of the cytokines interleukin- 6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in ocular cicatricial pemphigoid (OCP), a systemic autoimmune disease. METHODS. Serum levels of interleukin-6 and tumor necrosis factor-alpha in sera collected from 35 patients with OCP, 29 normal persons and 17 patients with ocular inflammatory diseases were determined using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS. Levels of interleukin-6 were significantly decreased in sera of patients with OCP (median, 28.9; range, 7.5 to 136.7 pg/ml, P < 0.001) compared with sera from normal subjects (median, 65.2; range, 21.1 to 303.9 pg/ml). Sera from patients with non-OCP, extraocular inflammatory diseases and uveitis, showed no such decrease. In contrast, tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels were significantly elevated in OCP patients (median, 22.5; range, 8.3 to 44.4 pg/ml, P < 0.001), whereas no such increase was observed in sera from patients with extraocular inflammatory disease or uveitis, compared to normal sera controls (median, 17.4; range, 5 to 27.2 pg/ml). CONCLUSIONS. These results suggest that elevated serum tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels and decreased serum interleukin-6 levels can be added to the increasing list of systemic immunologic correlates of active OCP, again emphasizing that OCP is a systemic disease whose primary manifestation is ocular.

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