Persistent non-infectious uveitis has a significant morbidity, but the extent to which this is accompanied by inflammation driven remodelling of the tissue is unclear. To address this question, we studied a series of samples selected from two ocular tissue repositories and identified 15 samples with focal infiltration. Eleven of fifteen contained lymphocytes, both B cells (CD20 positive) and T cells (CD3 positive). In 20% of the samples there was evidence of ectopic lymphoid like structures with focal aggregations of B cells and T cells, segregated into anatomically different adjacent zones. To investigate inflammation in the tissue, an analysis of 520 immune relevant transcripts was carried out and 24 genes were differentially upregulated, compared with control tissue. Two of these (CD14 and fibronectin) were increased in ocular inflammation compared to control immune tissue (tonsil). We demonstrate that in a significant minority of patients, chronic persistent uveitis leads to dysregulation of ocular immune surveillance, characterized by the development of areas of local ectopic lymphoid like structures, which may be a target for therapeutic intervention directed at antibody producing cells.

中文翻译：

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人葡萄膜炎中异位淋巴样结构的特征。

持续性非感染性葡萄膜炎的发病率很高，但尚不清楚炎症伴随的组织重塑的程度。为了解决这个问题，我们研究了从两个眼组织存储库中选择的一系列样本，并确定了15个具有局部浸润的样本。15个细胞中有11个包含淋巴细胞，包括B细胞（CD20阳性）和T细胞（CD3阳性）。在20％的样本中，有证据显示异位淋巴样结构具有B细胞和T细胞的局灶性聚集，并分离为解剖学上不同的相邻区域。为了研究组织中的炎症，与对照组织相比，分析了520个免疫相关转录本，差异表达了24个基因。与对照免疫组织（扁桃体）相比，其中的两种（CD14和纤连蛋白）在眼部炎症中增加。我们证明在少数患者中，慢性持续性葡萄膜炎导致眼部免疫监视失调，其特征是局部异位淋巴样结构区域的发展，这可能是针对抗体产生细胞的治疗性干预的目标。