| Presentation preference | Oral presentation |
| Title | Intraocular Cytokine Profile in Syphilitic Uveitis and Its Clinical Correlations |
| Accept poster if oral is not possible ? | Yes |
| Purpose | Ocular syphilis presents with pleomorphic clinical manifestations and its incidence is increasing. The role of cytokines in the immunocellular response in syphilitic uveitis (SU) remains incompletely understood, with significant gaps in understanding of its pathophysiology. This study aimed to characterize cytokine profile in peripheral blood plasma/aqueous humor (AH) of patients with SU, comparing it to controls. |
| Methods | A comparative interventional cross-sectional study was conducted with individuals with clinical-serological diagnosis of SU, from March 2022 to April 2023 at a uveitis referral center in Brazil. Fifteen patients were included in the case group and twenty patients in the control group. All participants underwent a complete ophthalmic examination and samples of AH and peripheral blood were collected for cytokine quantification on a Luminex microbead platform. |
| Results | Fifteen SU patients were included, aged 24-62 years, with 10 men and 2 being coinfected with HIV. Plasma cytokine analysis revealed increased levels of CXCL10 and CCL4 in the SU group, compared to controls. In AH samples from SU patients, a distinct pattern was found, with higher concentrations of Th1(IFN-g; IL-2; TNF-a), Th2(IL-4; IL-5; IL10; IL-13), Th17(IL-17) cytokines, as well as chemokines (CXCL10; CCL3; CCL4; CCL5). Additionally, AH cytokine levels varied with the systemic stage of syphilis, being lower in later stages. |
| Conclusion | SU is associated with a cytokine profile in AH, which is distinct from the serum, suggesting a localized inflammatory process, but without a specific profile. Variations in AH cytokine concentrations in different stages of syphilis support a dynamic immunoinflammatory response during disease progression. |
| Conflict of interest | No |
1
| Last name | FINOTTI |
| Initials of first name(s) | BB |
| Department | Hospital São Geraldo/HC da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) |
| City | Belo Horizonte |
| Country | Brazil |
2
| Last name | Simões e Silva |
| Initials of first name(s) | AC |
| Department | Faculdade de Medicina da UFMG |
| City | Belo Horizonte |
| Country | Brazil |
3
| Last name | Antonelli |
| Initials of first name(s) | LR |
| Department | Instituto René Rachu / Fiocruz Minas |
| City | Belo Horizonte |
| Country | Brazil |
4
| Last name | Vasconcelos-Santos |
| Initials of first name(s) | DV |
| Department | Hospital São Geraldo/HC da Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) and FM UFMG |
| City | Belo Horizonte |
| Country | Brazil |
