Peripheral Blood Transcriptome in Patients with Sarcoidosis-Associated Uveitis

ABSTRACT

Purpose

To identify peripheral blood transcriptome differences in uveitis patients with sarcoidosis compared to those with Vogt-Koyanagi-Harada (VKH) syndrome and controls.

Methods

Ten patients with uveitis compatible with sarcoidosis (eight with pulmonary sarcoidosis, one with central nervous system sarcoidosis, and one with conjunctival sarcoidosis), nine patients with VKH, and nine healthy controls were prospectively enrolled.

Results

Ten genes exhibited a four-fold difference in expression in sarcoidosis patients compared to controls, many being involved in regulating inflammatory processes or cellular responses to microbes.

Conclusions

This research suggests that the transcriptome in sarcoidosis is robust enough to be detected in the peripheral blood and that sarcoidosis can be distinguished from healthy controls. Differentially expressed genes may serve as candidates warranting further investigation with respect to disease pathophysiology and may provide additional information, such as ability to stratify patients based on associated disease severity and anatomical location of inflammation within the eye.

KEYWORDS:

• sarcoidosis
• uveitis
• metagenomic deep sequencing
• transcrioptome

Declaration of interest

None of the authors have any conflicts of interest.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by the Huang Pacific Foundation (Drs. Gonzales and Doan), a That Man May See Seed Grant (Dr. Gonzales), a Research to Prevent Blindness Career Development Award (Dr. Doan), and a National Institutes of Health–National Eye Institute award K08EY02986 (Dr. Doan).