Production of IL-8 and the other cytokines by T cell clones established from the ocular fluid of patients with Behçet's disease

Behcet's disease is a systemic inflammatory disease immunologically characterized by the infiltration of CD4+T cells and polymorphonuclear cells in the affected tissues, including the eye. Despite extensive studies, neither the etiology nor the pathogenic mechanism of Behcet's disease has been clarified. Production of cytokines by T cell clones (TCC) from the ocular fluid (18 CD3+CD4+CD8 clones and 4 CD3+CD4-CD8+ clones) and peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) (16 CD3+CD4+CD8- clones) of two patients with uveitis associated with Behcet's disease was investigated to understand better the immunopathology of the disease. The level of IL-8 spontaneously produced by TCC from the ocular fluid (mean: 659 pg/ml) or PBMC (536 pg/ml) of the patients was significantly higher (p<0.005, and p<0.05, respectively) than that by TCC (18 CD3+CD4+-CD8+ clones) and 4 CD3+CD4-CD8+ clones) from PBMC of healthy donors (241 pg/ml). As for the other cytokines, IL-Iα, IL-2, IL-6, IL-10, and TNF-α were produced at low but det...