title: High Levels of Serum Ubiquitin and Proteasome in a Case of HLA-B27 Uveitis.
abstract: In this paper, the authors describe a case of high serum levels of ubiquitin and proteasome in a woman under an acute attack of autoimmune uveitis. The woman was 52 years old, diagnosed as positive for the Human leukocyte antigen-B27 gene, and came to our observation in January 2013 claiming a severe uveitis attack that involved the right eye. During the acute attack of uveitis, this woman had normal serum biochemical parameters but higher levels of serum ubiquitin and proteasome 20S subunit, with respect to a healthy volunteer matched for age and sex. These levels correlated well with the clinical score attributed to uveitis. After the patient was admitted to therapy, she received oral prednisone in a de-escalation protocol (doses from 50 to 5 mg/day) for four weeks. Following this therapy, she had an expected reduction of clinical signs and score for uveitis, but concomitantly she had a reduction of the serum levels of ubiquitin, poliubiquitinated proteins (MAb-FK1) and proteasome 20S activity. Therefore, a role for ubiquitin and proteasome in the development of human autoimmune uveitis has been hypothesized.
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic of Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences Department, Second University of Naples, Naples 80131, Italy. settimio.rossi@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Settimio
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic of Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences Department, Second University of Naples, Naples 80131, Italy. carlogesualdo1981@libero.it.
authors.forename: Carlo
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Gesualdo
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. rosa.maisto@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Rosa
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Maisto
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. mariaconsiglia.trotta2@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Maria Consiglia
authors.initials: MC
authors.lastname: Trotta
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. nadine1988@hotmail.it.
authors.forename: Nadia
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Di Carluccio
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. brigida.annalisa@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Annalisa
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brigida
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic of Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences Department, Second University of Naples, Naples 80131, Italy. valedior1976@gmail.com.
authors.forename: Valentina
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: Di Iorio
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic of Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences Department, Second University of Naples, Naples 80131, Italy. francesco.testa@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Francesco
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Testa
authors.affiliation: Eye Clinic of Multidisciplinary Department of Medical, Surgical and Dental Sciences Department, Second University of Naples, Naples 80131, Italy. francesca.simonelli@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Francesca
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Simonelli
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. michele.damico@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Michele
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: D'Amico
authors.affiliation: Department of Experimental Medicine, Section of Pharmacology, Second University of Naples, Naples 80138, Italy. clara.difilippo@unina2.it.
authors.forename: Clara
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Di Filippo
mesh_terms: D001327:Autoimmune Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen / Q000235:genetics* / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D010641:Phenotype; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex / Q000097:blood*; D025801:Ubiquitin / Q000097:blood*; D014605:Uveitis / Q000097:blood* / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000209:etiology*
chemical_list: D015796:HLA-B27 Antigen; D025801:Ubiquitin; D046988:Proteasome Endopeptidase Complex
keywords: autoimmune uveitis; prednisone; proteasome; ubiquitin