Adoptive transfer of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis induced by interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein.

The immunopathogenic mechanisms of experimental autoimmune uveoretinitis (EAU) induced by interphotoreceptor retinoid-binding protein (IRBP) were studied. Lymph node (LN) cells or spleen cells were collected from donor rats 14 days after the immunization with IRBP. After the 3-day pre-incubation of these cells with either IRBP or Concanavalin A (Con A), the cells were transferred to naive syngeneic rats intraperitoneally. EAU was successfully transferred by LN cells pre-cultured with IRBP, while EAU was poorly transferred by LN cells pre-cultured with Con A. On the other hand, spleen cells pre-cultured with either IRBP or Con A were quite potent to transfer EAU. In addition, the enriched helper/inducer T-cells repeatedly transferred EAU, while the enriched suppressor/cytotoxic T-cells did not. There also existed the simultaneous involvement of pinealitis. The histopathological features of EAU and pinealitis were generally similar to those in actively immunized rats. The immune responses to IRBP in recipients with EAU were mostly cellular (delayed hypersensitivity type skin response and proliferative responses of lymphocytes), while humoral responses (Arthus type skin response and antibody activities) were quite weak in most of the recipients. Thus, it was confirmed that cellular immunity plays a major role in the adoptive transfer of EAU by IRBP as in S-antigen-induced EAU.