Elevated interleukin-10 levels in patients with ocular toxoplasmosis

Abstract

In elderly patients, ocular toxoplasmosis is one of the most common etiologies of uveitis, which should be differentially diagnosed from ocular lymphoma, another common pathology of uveitis in older adults. The high level of interleukin (IL)-10 and an IL-10/IL-6 ratio higher than 1 (>1.0) are helpful parameters to diagnose ocular lymphoma. In this study, we used aqueous humor samples to detect 4 cases of ocular toxoplasmosis in patients with high levels of IL-10 and an IL-10/IL-6 ratio higher than 1. Our results show that ocular toxoplasmosis may be associated with increased cytokine levels in aqueous humor.

Keywords: Interleukin-10; Toxoplasma gondii; cytokines; intraocular lymphoma; ocular toxoplasmosis; uveitis.

Fig. 1

Fundus photographs of vitritis (headlight in the fog) with active lesions seen as whitish foci of retinochoroiditis which is marked by white dotted circles; (A) left eye of case 1, (B) left eye of case 2, (C) left eye of case 3, (D) right eye of case 4, and (E) unaffected left eye of case 4.

Fig. 2

Fundus fluorescein angiographs of papillitis and vasculitis in an ocular toxoplasmosis patient; (A) left eye of case 1, (B) right eye of case 4.

Fig. 3

Fundus photography of total retinal detachment associated with active ocular toxoplasmosis (left eye of case 3).