Ghrelin treatment andvitreous cytokin levels in experimental uveitis

In this study, the effects of the ghrelin treatment oncytokines were investigated in a model of experimental uveitis. The effects oftacrolimus and infliximab which known to be effective in the treatment ofuveitis were compared with that of ghrelin in this study.Thirty rats weighted 300 g were used. The ratswere randomised into five groups each included six animals. 1 mg/ml concanavalin a was injectedintraperitoneally to all rats except group one. The induction of uveitis wasproven by histopatological examination of two ratsglobes from each group on the 14th day. After the induction of uveitis, 100microliter infiliximab on the fırst, third, fıfth and the seventh days, 1 mg /kg /day tacrolimus for 7 days and 10ng/kg/day ghrelin for 7 days were administered to the rats in groups 3, 4 and 5respectively. All of the drugs were applied by intraperitoneal route. On thetwenty fırst day of study, the eyes were enucleated, the vitreous samples weretaken and examined immunologically in all groups.Uveitis inthe histopathological evaluation of immunization in orderto determine the formation of theretina and ciliary bodies,the destruction was observedin groups of rats.When the cytokines TNF-a , IL-1, IL-6 which took place in the ocular inflammation wereinvestigated, all of them were found significantly higher in the groups in which uveitis was inducedcompared to group two (p< 0.05). In addition, it was found that tacrolimusand infliximab significantly reduced levels of these three cytokines were found(p <0.05), ghrelin treatment decreased cytokine levels in the group but notstatistically significant (p >0.05).Inconclusion, tacrolimus and infliximab which could neutralize or decrease thelevels of cytokines such as TNF-?, IL-1 and IL-6 that have a critical part inthe pathogenesis of uveitis were found to be effective in treatment, butghrelin failed to produce the desired effect. Further studies using differentdoses and different ways of administration are needed to determine theeffective dose of ghrelin in uveitis.Key words: Uveitis, TNF-a , IL-1, IL-6, tacrolimus, infliximab,ghrelin.