Autoimmune Uveo-Retinitis in the Rat Sensitized with Retina Photoreceptor Cell Antigen

Although uveitis has been widely identified as the main feature of the autoimmune disease produced in several vertebrate species immunized with retina, the present study shows that retinitis is the main feature of the disease in rats. These species differences can be correlated with species differences in intraocular vascularization, and the hematogenous pathways by which the inflammatory cells reach the ocular target. Results in the rat show that the retinal circulation is the source of inflammatory infiltrates which moved progressively from the inner vascular to the outer avascular layers of the retina and destroyed the photoreceptor cells, the retina structure with which the pathogenic antigen has been identified by fluorescent antibody staining.