title: TNF-alpha production in the cornea in response to Pseudomonas aeruginosa challenge.
abstract: Pseudomonas aeruginosa can cause ulcerative bacterial keratitis or contact lens-induced acute red eye (CLARE) in humans. The present study used a mouse model of ocular infection and inflammation to examine the relationship between TNF-alpha and inflammation in the cornea in response to challenge with either a strain of P. aeruginosa causing keratitis or a CLARE strain. Constitutive TNF-alpha mRNA was detected in the epithelium, mainly towards the periphery. After infection with the keratitis-inducing strain (6294), TNF-alpha expression was elevated four-fold by 24 h post-challenge. No detectable induction of TNF-alpha mRNA was seen with CLARE strain (Paer1) challenge at any time point. The TNF-alpha protein production detected by ELISA showed a corresponding pattern to the mRNA expression, which also correlated with pathological changes. These results suggest that invasive strains of P. aeruginosa create greater pathological changes as a result of elevated TNF-alpha production, which contributes to inflammation during keratitis in vivo.
authors.affiliation: Cooperative Research Centre for Eye Research and Technology, School of Optometry, University of New South Wales, Australia.
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Cole
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bao
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Willcox
authors.forename: A J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Husband
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D003315:Cornea / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D003316:Corneal Diseases / Q000276:immunology* / Q000382:microbiology; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D051379:Mice; D008807:Mice, Inbred BALB C; D011552:Pseudomonas Infections / Q000276:immunology*; D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000235:genetics
chemical_list: D014409:Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha