Anti-human vascular endothelial cell antibody in uveitis patients serum

Purpose. To determine the existence of anti-vasculoendothelial Ab in uveitis, Behcet & systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients and to evaluate whether its titration is related with the patients clinical manifestations. Methods. After human umbilical cord vein endothelial cell (HUVEC) culture in 96 well plate (2 × 10⁴ cells/well), we examined the serum of 21 idiopathic uveitis patients, 49 SLE patients and 10 Behcet patients without uveitis by ELISA for anti HUVEC IgG. The equation of reference curve was calculated with strongest positive serum with Ab titer through serial diluation (1:50 = 100 arbitrary unit (A.U.). Then we compared the results of normal serum without any known immunologic diseases with reference curve. Results. In patients with SLE, the number of patients whose titer was over 11 A.U. (3 standard deviation of normal serum) was 22 (38.8%) and in uveitis patients, the number was 7 (30%) but in Behcet patients without uveitis, none was over 11 A.U. Conclusion. It seems that vasculitis induced by their antibody reaction is one of pathophysiologic mechanisms in uveitis patients and SLE, but not in Behcet disease without uveitis. Therefore anti-vasculoendothelial Ab titration may be helpful to understand patient's clinical course and to evaluate the effectiveness of treatment.