Uveitis is a group of common eye disease and is one of the major causes of blindness worldwide. Corticosteroids and immunosuppressive agents are commonly used for the treatment of uveitis. However, long-term application of these drugs frequently lead to numerous side effects. Recently, with the development of gene transfer techniques, viral vector mediated gene therapy has achieved remarkable success in experimental uveitis. Inhibition of ocular inflammation in animal models is obtained mainly by two ways: first, increase of the expression of different immune modulators including IL-10, IL-1Ra, IL-4 and IFN-alpha, or IL-27p28; secondly, induction of immune tolerance by transferring uveitis related antigens via viral vectors. Uveitis is characterized by long-lasting and recurrent, the unique properties of local administration, long-term effectiveness and minor side effects of gene therapy may provide a novel strategy for the treatment of the devastating uveitis.
