Abstract: To investigate the effects of on the levels of Thl/Th2 cytokines in the cultured supernatants of the peripheral blood mononuclear cells(PBMC) in the patients with anterior uveitis. Methods:The levels of Th1 cytokines(IFN-γ, TNF-α) and Th2 cytokines(IL-4, IL-10) in the supernatants of PBMC of the 41 cases with anterior uveitis were detected by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay before and after the treatment by using Chinese herbs. 30 cases of healthy persons were collected as controls. Results: The levels of IFN-γ, TNF-α, IL-4 and IL-10 in supernatants of PBMC of the acute patients were different significantly than those of the patients after the treatment and the healthy controls(F=8.96~41.01, P=0.00), the IFN-γ an d TNF-α levels before treatment were higher than thecontrols（t=4.93/7.75，P=0.00），the levels of IL-4 and IL-10 were not different than the controls(t=1.55/1.46, P>0.05). After the treatment with Chinese herbs, the levels of IFN-γ and TNF-α in the recovery patients were decreased than the acute patients(t=16.94/21.21, P=0.00), IL-4 and IL-10 levels were increased(t=6.77/13.04, P=0.00), the levels of IFN-γ, IL-4 and IL-10 were higher than the controls(t=2.42~4.32, P=0.02~0.00), the levels of TNF-α was not different significantly with controls(t=0.87, P=0.39). The IFN-γ and TNF-α levels before and after treatment had positive correlation(r=0.84/0.75, p=0.00), and the IL-4 and IL-10 levels had positive correlation(r=0.88/0.86, P=0.00). Conclusion:The results indicated that the Th1 cytokines were increased in the patients of the acute anterior uveitis. After the treatment with Chinese herbs, the Th1 cytokines were decreased and the Th2 cytokines were increased. Chinese herbs could adjust the balance of Th1/Th2 cytokine of the anterior uveitic patients.

Key words: Uveitis, Chinese herbs, Th1/Th2 cytokines