Lay summary
For most autoimmune diseases, 20-50% of patients relapse within 1-5 years severely increasing healthcare costs and reducing the quality of life of those affected. For non-infectious uveitis, an inflammatory eye disease associated with underlying autoimmune conditions, about 40% of patients experience a relapse within 10 years significantly increasing the likelihood of vision loss. Using our preclinical model of uveitis, we have recently discovered that while corticosteroid treatment curbs acute inflammation, a self-perpetuating chronic inflammation pathway, likely responsible for disease relapse upon further triggers, remains active. We strongly believe that combination therapy with a blocker of this pathway could prevent chronic inflammation and disease relapse, significantly reducing the need for ongoing specialist visits. Taking our patent-protected findings into account, we will explore combination treatment regimens in our preclinical models as well as clinical markers of this chronic inflammation pathway in uveitis patients to inform future clinical trial design.