The evaluation of the relationship between serum cytokine levels and ocular inflammation findings in non-infectious uveitis

Purpose: This study aimed to analyze the serum levels of inflammatory cytokines in patients with non-infectious uveitis and investigate the relationship between cytokine levels and uveitis findings. Material and Methods: This prospective cross-sectional clinical study included uveitis patients who admitted to the Department of Ophthalmology at Çukurova University Faculty of Medicine, as well as a control group consisting of healthy individuals. The demographic characteristics along with ophthalmologic examinations, optical coherence tomography and fundus fluorescein angiography findings of the uveitis patients were recorded. Clinical evaluation and uveitis classification were conducted according to the Standardization of Uveitis Nomenclature (SUN) criteria. Etiological investigations were requested for all uveitis patients, and any associated systemic disease or specific uveitis entity identified was noted. Serum samples from both uveitis patients and healthy individuals were analyzed for Interleukin-6 (IL-6), Interleukin-10 (IL-10), Interleukin-17A (IL-17A), and tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α) levels using human microELISA kits. The serum cytokine levels of uveitis patients were compared with those of healthy individuals. Additionally, differences in cytokine levels among subgroups of uveitis patients classified based on uveitis characteristics were analyzed. Results: The study included 23 patients and 23 healthy participants. The mean serum TNF-α and serum IL-6 levels were found to be higher in the patient group compared to the control group, and the difference was statistically significant (p=0.026 and p=0.024, respectively). However, no statistically significant difference was observed in the mean serum IL-17A and IL-10 levels between the patient and healthy groups (p=0.84 and p=0.59, respectively). The mean serum IL-6 levels were significantly higher in male patients compared to female patients (p=0.039). Serum IL-10 levels were significantly higher in uveitis cases with bilateral involvement compared to the unilateral cases (p=0.003). The mean serum TNF-α level was found to be significantly higher in the group with keratic precipitates than in the group without (p=0.019). Conclusion: Serum IL-6 and TNF-α levels were found to be higher in the acute phase of the non-infectious uveitis patient group compared to the healthy group. Serum cytokine levels in uveitis patients may provide clinicians both prognostic value and guidance in targeted treatment processes, and shed light on larger prospective studies in this field. Keywords: Serum interleukin, uveitis, inflammation, cytokine