The paradoxical effect of tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-alpha) in endotoxin-induced uveitis.
OBJECTIVE
To investigate the role of TNF-alpha in endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) in mice.


METHODS
To neutralize TNF-alpha activity, mice were pretreated with either repeated injections of this cytokine or a single injection of antibody against it. The mice were then injected intraperitoneally with 500 micrograms endotoxin, to induce lethal septic shock, or into the footpad with 200 micrograms to induce EIU.


RESULTS
Although both pretreatments conferred protection against the systemic toxic effects of LPS, TNF-resistant mice and mice treated with anti-TNF-alpha antibody demonstrated an exacerbation of EIU when compared to control animals.


CONCLUSIONS
Unlike its apparent participation in the systemic effect of endotoxin, TNF-alpha is not directly involved in the pathogenesis of EIU and may even protect against the inflammatory processes of this disease.
Kasner
L
L
Laboratory of Immunology, National Eye Institute, National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland 20892.
Chan
C C
CC
Whitcup
S M
SM
Gery
I
I
D000208:Acute Disease; D000818:Animals; D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D004731:Endotoxins; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000276:immunology; D012486:Salmonella typhimurium; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000276:immunology*; D014606:Uveitis, Anterior / Q000276:immunology* / Q000473:pathology / Q000517:prevention & control
D001427:Bacterial Toxins; D004731:Endotoxins; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha; C027952:salmonella toxin