Current and future trends in the use of immunosuppressive agents in patients with uveitis.

Therapeutic trials for uveitis are seldom performed because of the relative rarity of the disease and its heterogeneity. Promising new approaches to therapy include cytokine or cytokine receptor inhibition; cytokine addition (alpha-interferon or interleukin-10); novel anti-metabolites; combination therapies; intravenous immunoglobulin; intravitreally inserted corticosteroid implants; and oral tolerance. Additional modalities or targets that deserve further testing include T-cell subsets, adhesion molecules, accessory molecules in antigen presentation, novel inflammatory mediators, inducers of apoptosis, photodynamic therapy, and neuroprotective agents.