Reason for the particular sensitivity of rats' ocular tissues to endotoxin

Abstract

Endotoxin-induced uveitis(EIU)has been established as a common model of a special kind of human uveitis, which has been linked to the infection of Gram-negative bacilli. Despite the florid ocular inflammation, there are no significant histopathological abnormalities in other organs or tissues of rats during EIU induced by systemic injection of endotoxin. The phenomenon that rats' ocular tissues are electively affected by endotoxin may reveal some unknown particular sensitivity of rat's ocular tissues. This article would review published papers on the reason for the particular sensitivity of rats' ocular tissues to endotoxin, which might help to provide new ideas for clinical treatment of human uveitis.

Keywords

• endotoxin
• uveitis
• receptor
• resident tissue macrophage
• vascular endothelial cell