title: Evaluation of mouse experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis by spectral domain optical coherence tomography.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To evaluate the efficacy of spectral domain optical coherence tomography (SD-OCT) in monitoring the development of mouse experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) as an animal model of endogenous uveitis, and to develop an OCT-based grading system for EAU severity.
  
  
  METHODS
  C57BL/6 mice were immunised with human interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (amino acid sequence 1-20) peptide and complete Freund's adjuvant to induce EAU. The development of EAU was monitored by SD-OCT serially throughout the disease course, and the images were graded from 1 to 4 and compared with the clinical and histopathological grades.
  
  
  RESULTS
  SD-OCT images depicted retinal lamella structures including the inner segment/outer segment (IS/OS) line in normal mice. Retinal structural changes were observed on SD-OCT images in mice that developed EAU clinically scored as grade 1 or higher, which precisely corresponded to the pathological findings. The SD-OCT images of EAU were graded as follows: grade 1, a few infiltrating cells in the vitreous and retina; grade 2, increased vitreous cells, retinal vasculitis, and granulomatous lesion; grade 3, cell infiltration into the whole retina, disappearance of IS/OS line, and destruction of the retinal layer structure; and grade 4, disappearance of the outer retina. The SD-OCT grade of EAU based on these criteria correlated significantly with both the clinical grade (R(2)=0.282, p<0.005) and histopathological grade (R(2)=0.846, p<0.0001).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  SD-OCT is useful for evaluating the development and severity of mouse EAU. The SD-OCT scoring system we developed accurately reflects clinical and histopathological changes.
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Kohzou
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Harimoto
authors.affiliation: Department of Developmental Anatomy and Regenerative Biology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Masataka
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ito
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Yoko
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Karasawa
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Yutaka
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Sakurai
authors.affiliation: Department of Ophthalmology, National Defense Medical College, Saitama, Tokorozawa, Japan.
authors.forename: Masaru
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Takeuchi
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000175:diagnosis*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D005136:Eye Proteins; D005260:Female; D051379:Mice; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D012173:Retinitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis*; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; D041623:Tomography, Optical Coherence; D014605:Uveitis / Q000139:chemically induced / Q000175:diagnosis*; D000099214:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Interstitial
chemical_list: D005136:Eye Proteins; D010446:Peptide Fragments; D012177:Retinol-Binding Proteins; D000099214:Retinol-Binding Proteins, Interstitial
keywords: Immunology