IL-10 and IL-6/IL-10 as predictive biomarkers for treatment response in non-infectious uveitis
Journal
Frontiers in Immunology
ISSN
1664-3224
Date Issued
2025-05-13
Author(s)
Rodrigo A. Valenzuela
Fabian Vega-Tapia
Nathaly Elizalde
Ivan Flores
Felipe M. Rojas
Annelise Goecke
Loreto Cuitino
Cristhian A. Urzua
Type
journal-article
Abstract
Uveitis, a group of heterogeneous diseases causing ocular inflammation, is a major contributor to vision loss globally. While systemic corticosteroids (CS) are the mainstay treatment, identifying CS-refractory patients remains a significant challenge. This study aimed to explore cytokine expression and Glucocorticoid Receptor (GR) levels as biomarkers for the early detection of CS-refractory cases in non-infectious uveitis. We assayed blood samples from 19 patients with non-infectious uveitis, for the expression of IL-6, IL-17A, TNF-α, IL-10 and GRα. The cohort included 11 refractory and 8 sensitive patients, categorized based on their clinical response to corticosteroids (prednisone 1 mg/kg/day). Blood draws were conducted at three time points (at baseline, day 7- and day 14 after CS initiation), and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) were isolated to measure cytokine and GRα transcript levels via real-time PCR. The expression levels of GRα and cytokines IL-6, IL-17A and TNF-α did not show significant changes between CS-sensitive and CS-refractory patients on the different days of treatment. However, IL-10 expression levels as the day14-to-day7 ratio were significantly higher in patients sensitive to CS therapy. A higher day14-to-day7 ratio was also found for the IL-6/IL-10, IL-17A/IL-10 and GRα/IL-10 ratios. ROC curve analysis demonstrated a robust predictive performance of IL-10 mRNA expression and the IL-6/IL-10 ratio for identifying CS-refractory patients. In conclusion, the expression of IL-10 and the IL-6/IL-10 ratio hold promise as early predictive biomarkers for CS treatment refractoriness in patients with non-infectious uveitis. These findings offer valuable insights into personalized treatment strategies, potentially leading to improved clinical outcomes.
Subjects
adult
;
aged
;
biomarkers
;
female
;
humans
;
interleukin-10
;
interleukin-6
;
male
;
middle aged
;
receptors
;
glucocorticoid
;
treatment outcome
;
uveitis
;
young adult
;
biological marker
;
corticosteroid
;
glucocorticoid receptor
;
glucocorticoid receptor alpha
;
interleukin 10
;
interleukin 17
;
interleukin 6
;
prednisone
;
tumor necrosis factor
;
biological marker
;
glucocorticoid receptor
;
il10 protein
;
human
;
il6 protein
;
human
;
interleukin 10
;
interleukin 6
;
adult
;
area under the curve
;
article
;
best corrected visual acuity
;
clinical article
;
clinical outcome
;
cohort analysis
;
controlled study
;
diagnostic test accuracy study
;
enzyme linked immunosorbent assay
;
female
;
fluorescence angiography
;
human
;
intraocular pressure
;
male
;
mydriasis
;
non-infectious uveitis
;
ophthalmology
;
ophthalmoscopy
;
optical coherence tomography
;
prospective study
;
protein expression
;
real time polymerase chain reaction
;
receiver operating characteristic
;
rna extraction
;
spectrophotometry
;
treatment response
;
uveitis
;
aged
;
blood
;
diagnosis
;
drug therapy
;
genetics
;
immunology
;
middle aged
;
treatment outcome
;
young adult
;
biomarkers
;
corticosteroids
;
interleukin-10
;
non-infectious uveitis
;
refractoriness
;
treatment response