Ruxolitinib Alleviates Uveitis Caused by Salmonella typhimurium Endotoxin

Uveitis is characterized by inflammatory lesions of intraocular structures. It is one of the important manifestations in patients with Reiter’s syndrome, an inflammatory arthritis, which is caused by enteric infection with bacteria, including Salmonella typhimurium. Corticosteroids remain the most frequently used therapies against uveitis associating with inflammatory arthritis. However, the long-term administration of steroids results in many side effects, and some uveitis patients do not respond to steroid treatment. Non-steroidal treatments are needed for uveitis patients. Our previous study found that Janus kinase (JAK) 1/2 inhibitor, ruxolitinib could suppress the expression of proinflammatory mediators in the ciliary body and iris. However, the impacts of ruxolitinib on ophthalmic features in uveitic eyes are still unknown. In this study, Salmonella typhimurium endotoxin-induced uveitis (EIU) was induced in Sprague Dawley rats by the injection of lipopolysaccharide (LPS). Compared with LPS-induced rats treated with water, ruxolitinib significantly attenuated the clinical manifestations, infiltrating cells and protein exudation in the aqueous humor, and retina–choroid thickening. Amplitudes of b-wave in both scotopic and photopic electroretinogram (ERG), and the amplitude of a-wave in scotopic ERG in EIU animals were alleviated by ruxolitinib. Collectively, we propose ruxolitinib could attenuate endotoxin-induced uveitis and rescue visual functions in rats by inhibiting the JAK2-STAT3 pathway.