Hyperacute form of experimental autoimmune uveo-retinitis in Lewis rats; electron microscopic study.

One systemic injection of retinal tissue or extract mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant induces uveo-retinitis in several animal species: guinea pig [6], rabbit [5, 7], monkey [4] and rat [8]. Rod outer segments may be used as the pathogenic antigenic preparation [1, 3, 9]. This study reports on the conditions of induction of experimental autoimmune uveo-retinitis (EAU) in rats (susceptible strains of rats, optimal doses of antigen and adjuvant) and the histopathological features of the lesions in the early stages of the disease. In several species one systemic injection of retinal tissue or extract mixed with Freund's complete adjuvant induces an ocular inflammatory disease, whose main features are an inflammatory infiltration of the uvea and a destruction of the external layers of the retina. With adequate doses of guinea pig retinal extract and adjuvant, the disease was induced in all cases in albino rats of the Lewis strain. The vascular and tissular lesions, and the infiltrates with a predominance of PMN's and basophils seem to be the result of immune complexe deposition.