Aqueous humor polyamines and alkaline phosphatase activity in endotoxin-induced uveitis: correlations to diverse leukocyte subsets.

The polyamines putrescine, spermidine and spermine have been proposed to be a part of the acute phase inflammatory response. They have been shown to be useful markers for cellular kinetics and change with various pathological conditions. The hypothesis that aqueous humor polyamines could be used to follow the time course of an endotoxin-induced inflammation in the eye was investigated. Additional parameters studied were the amount of aqueous leukocytes, alkaline phosphatase activity, distribution of leukocyte subsets and breakdown of the blood-aqueous barrier. Aqueous leukocytes, protein, alkaline phosphatase activity, putrescine and acetylated spermidine increased significantly as a response to inflammation during the first days after uveitis induction. Spermidine decreased 24 h after injection and seemed to rise thereafter. The different polyamines, except spermidine, correlated to the diverse infiltrating leukocyte subsets. These observations indicate that aqueous polyamines may be applied as valid markers for inflammation in the eye.