This Article  • Full text  • PDF  • Reply to article  • Send to a friend  • Save in My Folder  • Save to citation manager  • Permissions  Citing Articles  • Citation map  • Citing articles on HighWire  • Citing articles on Web of Science (11)  • Contact me when this article is cited  Related Content  • Related article  • Similar articles in this journal  Topic Collections  • Uveitis  • Alert me on articles by topic  Social Bookmarking   What's this?

Conor C. Murphy, MMedSc, MRCOphth; Kathrin Greiner, MD; Jarka Plskova, MD, PhD; Linda Duncan, BSc; N. Andrew Frost, MRCP, FRCOphth, PhD; John V. Forrester, FRCOphth, MD; Andrew D. Dick, FRCP, FRCOphth, MD

Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123:634-641.

Objectives  To compare the efficacy and tolerability of tacrolimus and cyclosporine therapy for noninfectious posterior segment intraocular inflammation and to evaluate their effect on peripheral blood CD4⁺ T-cell phenotype and activation status.

Methods  Thirty-seven patients who required second-line immunosuppression for posterior segment intraocular inflammation were enrolled in this prospective randomized trial of tacrolimus vs cyclosporine therapy. The main outcome measures were visual acuity, binocular indirect ophthalmoscopy score, adverse effects, and quality of life. In addition, peripheral blood CD4⁺ T-cell phenotype and activation status were evaluated by flow cytometry before treatment and at 2, 4, and 12 weeks using CD69, chemokine receptor (CCR4, CCR5, and CXCR3), and intracellular cytokine (tumor necrosis factor , interferon-, and interleukin 10) expression.

Results  Thirteen patients (68%) taking tacrolimus and 12 patients (67%) taking cyclosporine responded to treatment. Cyclosporine therapy was associated with a higher incidence of reported adverse effects. Mean arterial pressure and serum cholesterol level were significantly higher at 3 months in the cyclosporine group than the tacrolimus group. No significant difference was detected with regard to effect on quality of life or CD4⁺ T-cell phenotype.

Conclusions  Tacrolimus and cyclosporine were similar with regard to efficacy for posterior segment intraocular inflammation, but the results suggested a more favorable safety profile for tacrolimus therapy.

Author Affiliations: Division of Ophthalmology, University of Bristol, Bristol, England (Drs Murphy and Dick); Department of Ophthalmology, University of Aberdeen, Aberdeen, Scotland (Drs Greiner, Plskova, and Forrester and Ms Duncan); and Department of Ophthalmology, Torbay General Hospital, Torquay, England (Dr Frost).

CiteULike    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter     What's this?

RELATED ARTICLE

Noninfectious Uveitis: A Scarcity of Randomized Clinical Trials
Annabelle A. Okada
Arch Ophthalmol. 2005;123(5):682-683.
EXTRACT | FULL TEXT  

THIS ARTICLE HAS BEEN CITED BY OTHER ARTICLES

Steroid Refractory CD4+ T Cells in Patients with Sight-Threatening Uveitis
Lee et al.
IOVS 2009;50:4273-4278.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT  

Validity of using vision-related quality of life as a treatment end point in intermediate and posterior uveitis
Murphy et al.
Br J Ophthalmol 2007;91:154-156.
ABSTRACT | FULL TEXT