UVEITIS GENE-EXPRESSION PROFILING

描述(由申请人提供)：葡萄膜炎是一组麻烦的疾病，共同代表着与糖尿病类似的失明原因。大多数形式的葡萄膜炎要么是传染性的，要么是免疫介导性的。我们建议为与葡萄膜炎相关的3种最重要疾病的患者建立外周血基因表达的数据库：强直性脊柱炎、结节病和白塞病。我们将利用微阵列基因芯片技术，对超过4万个基因序列的患者外周血中一致性改变的表达进行定量检测。众所周知，这种方法可以检测到系统性免疫介导的疾病。我们将使用这个数据库来：1)确定葡萄膜炎和强直性脊柱炎、结节病或白塞病患者是否可以与正常人群或具有相同全身疾病但没有葡萄膜炎病史的对照组区分开来；2)确定基因表达谱是否可以区分感染性或特发性葡萄膜炎与脊柱炎、结节病或白塞病患者；3)确定随着间歇性疾病(如脊柱炎或白塞氏病)的激活或缓解，基因表达谱如何随时间变化；以及4)基因表达变化与眼部病变的预后相关。为葡萄膜炎患者建立基因表达数据库，有可能阐明疾病的发病机制，建立新的诊断工具，并提供预测预后的手段。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Uveitis is a group of troublesome diseases that collectively represent a cause of blindness comparable to diabetes. Most forms of uveitis are either infectious or immune-mediated. We propose to create a data base on peripheral blood gene expression for patients with 3 of the most important diseases associated with uveitis: ankylosing spondylitis, sarcoidosis, and Behcet's disease. We will quantitatively measure the expression of consistent alteration in peripheral blood from patients with more than 40,000 gene sequences using microarray gene chip technology. This approach is known to detect systemic immune-mediated disease. We will use this data base to: 1) Determine if patients with uveitis and ankylosing spondylitis, sarcoidosis, or Behcet's can be distinguished from a normal population or controls with the same systemic disease but no history of uveitis; 2) Determine if the profile of gene expression can distinguish infectious or idiopathic forms of uveitis from patients with spondylitis, sarcoidosis, or Behcet's; 3) Determine how this gene profile changes over time as episodic disease such as spondylitis or Behcet's activates or remits; and 4) Correlate the changes in gene expression with the prognosis of the ocular inflammatory process. The creation of a gene expression data base for patients with uveitis has the potential to clarify the pathogenesis of disease, establish new diagnostic tools, and provide a means for predicting prognosis.