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2808987859 REFERENCE ONLY UNIVERSITY OF LONDON THESIS Degree IM . P Year '^ o O ^ Name of Author f \ fcCG C O P YR IG H T This is a thesis accepted for a Higher Degree of the University of London. It is an unpublished typescript and the copyright is held by the author. All persons consulting the thesis must read and abide by the Copyright Declaration below. COPYRIGHT DECLARATION I recognise that the copyright of the above-described thesis rests with the author and that no quotation from it or information derived from it may be published without the prior written consent of the author. LOAN Theses may not be lent to individuals, but the University Library may lend a copy to approved libraries within the United Kingdom, for consultation solely on the premises of those libraries. Application should be made to: The Theses Section, University of London Library, Senate House, Malet Street, London WC1E 7HU. 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OCULAR MONITORING IN IMMUNOSUPPRESSED PATIENTS AND QUANTIFICATION OF IMMUNOSUPPRESSION BY ASSESSMENT OF INTRACELLULAR CYTOKINES A thesis presentedfor the degree o f Doctor o f Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University o f London By OLATOKUMBOH FOLAWUYO AKERELE BSc, MBBS, FRCOphth Clinical Ophthalmology, Institute of Ophthalmology University College London University of London 1 UMI Number: U591699 All rights reserved INFORMATION TO ALL USERS The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the copy submitted. In the unlikely event that the author did not send a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted. Also, if material had to be removed, a note will indicate the deletion. Dissertation Publishing UMI U591699 Published by ProQuest LLC 2013. Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author. Microform Edition © ProQuest LLC. All rights reserved. This work is protected against unauthorized copying under Title 17, United States Code. ProQuest LLC 789 East Eisenhower Parkway P.O. Box 1346 Ann Arbor, Ml 48106-1346 ABSTRACT Although laboratory indices, such as drug levels, are in routine use for monitoring immunosuppression, these do not always correlate well with an individual’s risk of toxicity. In practice individual organs are monitored for toxicity with a combination of laboratory and clinical methods. These methods are limited by the fact that one has to await compromise before making therapeutic changes and there are often idiosyncrasies in the way individuals respond. Ocular complications can be sight threatening and many have proposed routine ocular monitoring in immunosuppressed patients. This study prospectively monitored a cohort of patients receiving high levels of immunosuppression for the prevention of rejection of heart, lung and heart-lung transplants for the development of ocular complications and to assess ocular morbidity. Specific surrogate markers that gave more information about the level of immunosuppression in a particular patient would improve patient care. Cytokines have the advantage of being directly generated by the immune response and offer promise as surrogate markers. Various, and not always consistent, cytokine profiles have been described for a number of conditions. Flow cytometry with intracellular cytokine staining allows quantification of the amount of cytokine present. These studies used this technique to describe the cytokine profile and changes in cytokine profile seen in patients during treatment for autoimmune uveitis and in patients with human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) receiving combination anti-retroviral therapy (ART). These studies emphasized the importance of prompt and careful clinical examination in the presence of clinical symptoms but did not support routine screening of patients on high levels of immunosuppression. Accurate measurements of interleukin-2 (IL-2) and interferon-gamma (IFNy) in patients with uveitis did not correlate well with disease activity. In contrast patients with different HIV profiles did show measurably different Thl cytokine expression providing information on the T cell deficits that persist despite treatment with ART. 2 TABLE OF CONTENTS HYPOTHESES....................................................................................................................14 OBJECTIVES...................................................................................................................... 14 1 CHAPTER 1: Clinical Monitoring: Ocular Complications Following Heart, Lung and Heart-Lung Transplantation ........................................................................................... 16 1.1 INTRODUCTION..................................................................................................... 17 1.1.1 Opportunistic Infections .................................................................................... 17 1.1.2 Other Complications Associated with Infection .............................................39 1.1.3 Noninfectious Ocular Complications Secondary to Drug Toxicity ..............42 1.2 AIMS........................................................................................................................... 51 1.3 METHODS................................................................................................................. 51 1.3.1 Patient Selection ..................................................................................................51 1.3.2 Data Collected ..................................................................................................... 51 1.4 RESULTS...................................................................................................................52 1.4.1 Heart Transplant Recipients ...............................................................................52 1.4.2 Heart-Lung Transplant Recipients ....................................................................58 1.4.3 Lung Transplant Recipients ...............................................................................60 1.5 SUMMARY............................................................................................................... 65 1.6 DISCUSSION ............................................................................................................ 67 2 CHAPTER 2: Quantification Of Immunosuppression by Flow Cytometric Assessment Of Intracellular Cytokines .................................................................................70 2.1 Overview of the Induction of the Immune Response ............................................ 71 2.1.1 Cells of the Immune System ..............................................................................71 2.1.2 Induction of an Immune response .....................................................................74 2.2 Cytokines .....................................................................................................................81 2.2.1 T Helper Subsets .................................................................................................82 3 2.2.2 Interleukin-2 (IL-2) and the Interleukin-2 Receptor (IL-2R) ........................84 2.2.3 Pro-inflammatory Cytokines ............................................................................. 84 2.2.4 Cytokines with Predominant Immunoregulatory Functions ..........................85 2.2.5 Clinical Correlations ...........................................................................................86 2.2.6 Measurement of Cytokines ................................................................................87 2.3 Laboratory Techniques Used In These Studies .......................................................91 3 CHAPTER 3: Assessment of Cytokine Production In Autoimmune Uveitis Patients On Systemic Immunosuppression ..........................................................................95 3.1 INTRODUCTION.....................................................................................................96 3.1.1 Definition of Uveitis ...........................................................................................96 3.1.2 Pathology of Posterior Uveitis and Effect on Cytokine Profile .....................97 3.1.3 Treatment of Posterior Uveitis .........................................................................102 3.1.4 Medical Suppression of the Inflammatory Response ....................................104 3.2 AIMS..........................................................................................................................I ll 3.3 METHODS................................................................................................................I ll