Evidence for immediate hypersensitivity phenomena in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis.

Evidence is presented for the involvement of immediate hypersensitivity phenomena in experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis, an ocular inflammatory disease induced in Lewis rats by injection of the purified S antigen from bovine retina. Several parameters at various dates after immunization have been studied. In vivo degranulation of choroidal mast cells, in vitro degranulation of peritoneal mast cells in the presence of S antigen and cutaneous anaphylaxis were observed as early as 6-8 days after immunization. Serum antibodies were detected by passive hemagglutination from day 7 on. These phenomena preceded the onset of the ocular inflammation, consisting of a transient polymorphonuclear leukocyte infiltration, a long-lasting lymphoid cell infiltration and extensive damage to the retina and surrounding tissues. Such time course of events may suggest a role for reaginic antibody as a trigger for vascular changes in the target ocular tissue, favoring the development of inflammatory lesions.