Comparison of clinical and experimental uveitis.

Uveitis is a term which encompasses many clinical syndromes which would appear to be discrete entities. Both clinically and experimentally, the separation of uveitis affecting only the anterior segment from that affecting the posterior segment has a sound pathogenetic basis. However, clear distinctions among the various forms of endogenous posterior uveitis are more difficult to maintain in the light of evidence from experimental models of autoimmune uveitis (EAU). EAU can be induced by a variety of retinal antigens and each antigen has been shown to induce somewhat different forms of EAU, depending on such factors as dose of antigen, species and strains of animal model, and the type(s) of adjuvant used. However, within each model a similar spectrum of uveoretinal responses can be induced by each antigen suggesting that the pathogenetic mechanisms are probably similar also. In addition, if these models are analogous to human disease, then each clinical entity within this apparently heterogeneous group of clinical posterior uveitis syndromes may represent one aspect of a general organ-specific uveoretinal response to autoantigens.