Evaluation of Uveitis Induced in Rats by a Type I Collagen Peptide as a Model for Childhood Arthritis-associated Uveitis

In this study, we evaluated MAA-induced uveitis in rats as a potential model for JIA-uveitis. We characterizedMAA-induced uveitis by assessing its relationship to age and sex; tracking the occurrence of arthritis, enthesitis, and ANApositivity; and measuring vitreous fluid inflammatory biomarkers. Juvenile and adult and male and female Lewis rats (Rattusnorvegicus) were inoculated with MAA. Slit-lamp biomicroscopy, indirect ophthalmoscopy, and joint examinations wereperformed 3 times weekly. Rats were euthanized at 4 wk after MAA inoculation, and plasma ANA testing, vitreous inflammatorybiomarker assays, and globe histopathology assessments were conducted. Uveitis, arthritis, ANA status, levels ofinflammatory biomarkers, histopathology, and joint tomographic images were assessed in relation to age and sex and comparedwith nonuveitic controls. All MAA-immunized rats developed uveitis characterized by anterior chamber fibrin, iridalvessel dilation, and miosis, and uveal and choroidal lymphocytic infiltration. Levels of the vitreous fluid biomarker CCL5were higher in uveitic rats compared with control rats. Time to uveitis onset, clinical uveitis scores, and biomarker levels didnot differ based on age or sex. None of the MAA-exposed rats had arthritis, enthesitis, or ANA. None of the rats inoculatedwith MAA that had been treated with matrix metallopeptidase 1 had clinical, histologic, or immunohistochemical evidenceof ocular inflammation. In contrast to JIA-associated uveitis in...
Source: Comparative Medicine - Category: Zoology Authors: Source Type: research