Aqueous Humor Levels of Different Interleukins 1-β, 2, 6 and 10, Tumor Necrosis Factor-α and Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in Uveitis Treated with Adalimumab

PURPOSE: To assess changes in aqueous humor levels of different interleukins (IL), tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with uveitis treated with adalimumab. METHODS: In this study, 24 aqueous humor samples including 12 pre- and post-treatment samples from 6 patients with uveitis treated with subcutaneous adalimumab and 12 samples from patients with cataracts (serving as controls) were evaluated. The levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, TNF-α and VEGF were measured using a Luminex(®) 200™ flow cytometer (Merckmillipore, Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Alemania) and a highly sensitive ELISA system. RESULTS: The levels of IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6 and IL-10 in the aqueous humor before and after treatment with adalimumab did not show significant differences. Aqueous VEGF levels significantly reduced after treatment with adalimumab (P = 0.028). Aqueous TNF-α levels did not significantly change after treatment with adalimumab, however the post-treatment level was significantly higher in patients as compared to control subjects (P = 0.032). IL-2 showed significantly higher levels in uveitis patients before treatment as compared to controls (P = 0.024), while its post-treatment levels were almost normalized. CONCLUSION: Decrease in the aqueous humor levels of VEGF and IL-2 after treatment with systemic adalimumab indicates that anti-TNF-α therapy induces modifications of some inflammatory mediators involved in the pathogenesis of uveitis. Aqueous humor samples may be useful to assess the effect of adalimumab on intraocular inflammation through measurement of cytokines.