[Improvement of tissue fibrosis in TAFRO syndrome by prednisolone monotherapy].

We report the case of a 48-year-old man who presented with fatigue and weight loss. A local physician observed elevated alkaline phosphatase levels, anemia, thrombocytopenia, and renal dysfunction. Fever also appeared, and the patient was admitted to our hospital.

Immunopathological Analysis of a Mouse Model of Arthritis-Associated Scleritis and Implications for Molecular Targeted Therapy for Severe Scleritis.

Scleritis involves inflammation of the sclera, which constitutes 75% of the wall of the eye. This pathology is often seen as an ocular lesion associated with systemic inflammatory diseases. Severe types of scleritis such as posterior scleritis require urgent immunosuppressive treatments, including molecularly targeted therapies to avoid permanent visual impairment.

Comparison of combination therapy of prednisolone and cyclosporine with corticosteroid pulse therapy in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada disease.

Purpose: To compare the efficacy and safety of a combination therapy of prednisolone and cyclosporine and corticosteroid pulse therapy in Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) disease.

Study Design: A prospective, multicenter, randomized, non-inferiority trial.

Methods: Patients of new-onset acute VKH disease at 11 centers in Japan between 2014 and 2018 were randomized to a combination (oral prednisolone 60 mg daily with gradual taper-off to 35 mg/day and cyclosporine 3 mg/kg/day) and corticosteroid (methylprednisolone 1000 mg for 3 days followed by oral prednisolone) groups, and were followed for 1 year.

[A Case of Immune-Related Adverse Events Affecting the Lungs, Skin, and Pituitary Gland during Pembrolizumab Treatment].

The patient was a 69-year-old man diagnosed with stage ⅣB lung adenocarcinoma with 95% programmed death- ligand 1 expression, and pembrolizumab monotherapy was initiated. The patient exhibited fatigue from the 12th course(36 weeks after treatment initiation) of treatment. Chest computed tomography revealed scattered ground-glass opacities in the upper lobes of both lungs, and he was subsequently diagnosed with interstitial pneumonia.

Genetic control of CCL24, POR, and IL23R contributes to the pathogenesis of sarcoidosis.

Sarcoidosis is a genetically complex systemic inflammatory disease that affects multiple organs. We present a GWAS of a Japanese cohort (700 sarcoidosis cases and 886 controls) with replication in independent samples from Japan (931 cases and 1,042 controls) and the Czech Republic (265 cases and 264 controls). We identified three loci outside the HLA complex, CCL24, STYXL1-SRRM3, and C1orf141-IL23R, which showed genome-wide significant associations (P < 5.

Immune Checkpoints Contribute Corneal Immune Privilege: Implications for Dry Eye Associated with Checkpoint Inhibitors.

The eye is provided with immune protection against pathogens in a manner that greatly reduces the threat of inflammation-induced vision loss. Immune-mediated inflammation and allograft rejection are greatly reduced in the eye, a phenomenon called 'immune privilege'. Corneal tissue has inherent immune privilege properties with underlying three mechanisms: (1) anatomical, cellular, and molecular barriers in the cornea; (2) an immunosuppressive microenvironment; and (3) tolerance related to regulatory T cells and anterior chamber-associated immune deviation.

VISTA Is Crucial for Corneal Allograft Survival and Maintenance of Immune Privilege.

Purpose: V-domain immunoglobulin suppressor of T cell activation (VISTA) is a novel immune checkpoint receptor and ligand for regulating T cell proliferation and cytokine production. The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of VISTA in the immune privilege of corneal allografts.

Methods: Expression of VISTA mRNA in mouse eyes was assessed with reverse-transcription PCR.

Immune privilege in corneal transplantation.

Corneal transplantation is the most successful solid organ transplantation performed in humans. The extraordinary success of orthotopic corneal allografts, in both humans and experimental animals, is related to the phenomenon of "immune privilege". Inflammation is self-regulated to preserve ocular functions because the eye has immune privilege.

Immune Cells on the Corneal Endothelium of an Allogeneic Corneal Transplantation Rabbit Model.

Purpose: Corneal endothelial cell density undergoes a progressive decrease for many years after transplantation, eventually threatening patients with late endothelial failure. The purpose of this study was to investigate the possibility of an immunologic response in successfully grafted corneal endothelium.

Methods: The corneal endothelium of patients who had undergone corneal transplantation was evaluated by specular microscopy.

Protective Role of ICOS and ICOS Ligand in Corneal Transplantation and in Maintenance of Immune Privilege.

Purpose: The interaction between the inducible costimulatory molecule (ICOS) and ICOS ligand (ICOSL) has been implicated in the differentiation and functions of T cells. The purpose of the present study was to determine the role of ICOS-ICOSL in the immune privilege of corneal allografts.

Methods: Expression of ICOS and ICOSL mRNA from mouse eyes was assessed by RT-PCR.

Ocular Behçet's disease is less complicated with allergic disorders. A nationwide survey in Japan.

Objectives: Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic inflammatory disorder polarised to the Th1 and Th17 immune systems. Allergic diseases are polarised to the Th2 immune system. The aim of the present study is to investigate the prevalence of allergic diseases in patients who have BD.

[Incidence of endogenous intraocular inflammation patients who visited Nippon Medical School Hospital during the 8 years from 2004 to 2012].

Purpose: To report the clinical statistical analysis of patients with endogenous intraocular inflammation who visited Nippon Medical School Hospital during the 8 years from 2004 to 2012.

Subjects And Methods: This retrospective study involved 759 new patients with endogenous intraocular inflammation who visited Nippon Medical School Hospital during the 8 years from April 2004 to April 2012.

Results: The subjects comprised 357 men and 402 women.

[A case of pancreatic mixed acinar-endocrine carcinoma suggested by preoperative ultrasound-guided fine needle aspiration].

A 73-year-old man visited our hospital for consultation regarding a pancreatic tumor. Abdominal computed tomography, magnetic resonance imaging, and endoscopic ultrasound scan (EUS) revealed tumor 2 cm in diameter located in the pancreatic tail. EUS-guided fine needle aspiration (EUS-FNA) suggested pancreatic mixed acinar-endocrine carcinoma, and he underwent distal pancreatectomy.

Evaluation of the long-term efficacy and safety of infliximab treatment for uveitis in Behçet's disease: a multicenter study.

Purpose: To evaluate the long-term efficacy and safety of infliximab for the treatment of uveitis in Behçet's disease (BD).

Design: Retrospective multicenter study using a questionnaire.

Participants: A total of 164 consecutive patients with BD treated with infliximab for more than 1 year were studied.

Galectin-9-mediated protection from allo-specific T cells as a mechanism of immune privilege of corneal allografts.

The eye is an immune-privileged organ, and corneal transplantation is therefore one of the most successful organ transplantation. The immunosuppressive intraocular microenvironment is known as one of the mechanisms underlying immune privilege in the eye. T-cell immunoglobulin and mucin domain (Tim)-3 is a regulatory molecule for T-cell function, and galectin (Gal)-9 is a Tim-3 ligand.

Review of ocular immune privilege in the year 2010: modifying the immune privilege of the eye.

The original evidence for the existence of immunologically privileged sites in the body was based on the prolonged survival of genetically disparate transplanted tissue in the anterior chamber of the eye. The failure of the immune system to elicit an immune response in this and other such sites constitutes the hallmark of the immune privilege status. The remarkably successful field of corneal transplantation in clinical practice is undoubtedly associated with corneal immune privilege.

GITR ligand-mediated local expansion of regulatory T cells and immune privilege of corneal allografts.

Purpose: The pathway between the glucocorticoid-induced tumor necrosis factor receptor family-related protein (GITR) and GITR ligand (GITRL) has been shown to control the function of regulatory T cells (Treg). The present study was conducted to investigate the role of this pathway and Treg in establishing immune privilege status for corneal allografts.

Methods: Corneas of C57BL/6 mice were orthotopically transplanted into the eyes of BALB/c mice, and graft survival was assessed.

Mechanisms of immune privilege in the anterior segment of the eye: what we learn from corneal transplantation.

The eye, like the brain and reproductive organs, possesses inherent immune privilege, and inflammation is self-regulated so as to preserve the organ functions. Studies over the past 30 years have provided insights of the multiple mechanisms of immune privilege. At present, three major lines of thought prevail regarding the molecular mechanisms of immune privilege in the eye: there are (1) anatomical, cellular, and molecular barriers in the eye; (2) eye-derived immunological tolerance, the so-called anterior chamber-associated immune deviation; and (3) immune suppressive intraocular microenvironment.

Latanoprost does not affect immune privilege of corneal allografts.

The present study determined whether topical latanoprost, a prostaglandin (PG) F(2alpha) analog, influences the induction of anterior chamber-associated immune deviation (ACAID), corneal neovascularization (NV) or survival of corneal allografts in mice. BALB/c mice received topical latanoprost or PGE(2) once or multiple times daily starting 4 weeks prior to or the day of anterior chamber injection of C57BL/6 splenocytes. Induction of allo-specific ACAID was assessed by ear challenge with C57BL/6 splenocytes 1 week after subcutaneous immunization.