Intermediate uveitis is a chronic disorder of unclear etiology that affects mainly children and young adults. It can be the first symptom of an autoimmune process and lead to serious disturbances of vision and blindness. Free elastase, strong proteinase released by activated neutrophils plays an important role in the innate immune system and in the pathogenesis of various diseases. As pointed out by many experimental and clinical study elastase in complex with α₁-proteinase inhibitor (NE-α₁PI) may serve as a sensitive indicator of neutrophil activation and inflammation. The aim of the study was to answer the question - is there for the activation of neutrophils in intermediate uveitis?
The research was conducted in 47 patients (21 girls and 26 boys, aged between 4.5-19 years, mean ± SD: 11.77 ±3.69) suffering from idiopathic intermediate uveitis of the stable phase of the disease.
The control group consisted of 60 healthy subjects (36 girls, 24 boys, aged 3-18 years, mean ± SD:
10.5 ± 4.46). The concentration of NE-1PI was determined in plasma by ELISA.
Elastase concentration (mean ± SD: 174.94 ±183.75 ng/ml, median: 112.76 ng/ml) was significantly (p = 0.000000) elevated compared with controls (mean ± SD: 58.64 ±19.56 ng/ml, median: 56.40 ng/ml).
The results obtained suggest that in children with idiopathic intermediate uveitis comes to activation of circulating neutrophils and elevated levels of neutrophil elastase complexed with α1-proteinase inhibitor.