Michael Paley, MD, PhD, assistant professor of medicine and ophthalmology and visual sciences at WashU Medicine John F. Hardesty, MD Department of Ophthalmology & Visual Sciences, has received his first R01 grant from the National Eye Institute (NEI) to investigate the connection between intestinal inflammation and uveitis, a group of inflammatory eye diseases that can threaten vision.
With support from Jamie Walsh, MD, PhD, Paley will study how the immune system may connect inflammation in the gut to inflammation in the eye. The research focuses on T cells, a type of immune cell that may carry signals from an inflamed intestine to the eye and contribute to the development of uveitis.
Understanding the Gut-Eye Connection
One of the most common questions Paley hears from patients newly diagnosed with uveitis is, “Why did I get this?”
While researchers know that several forms of uveitis can develop after intestinal inflammation, the biological connection between the gut and the eye remains unclear. Paley and his team suspect that T cells may play a key role in this connection, carrying immune activity from the inflamed gut to the eye and triggering uveitis.
Through this research, the team plans to identify the events in both the gut and eye that program these T cells to drive inflammation and disease. Understanding these processes could provide a model for explaining why some patients develop uveitis.
“Our hope is that by pursuing this work that crosses multiple medical disciplines, we will not only be able to explain to patients how and why they developed uveitis but also lay the groundwork for understanding how to treat and one day prevent these blinding diseases,” Paley said.
The research represents a multidisciplinary approach to understanding uveitis and could help establish a foundation for future studies into new approaches for treating and preventing inflammatory eye diseases.