This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons license, unless indicated otherwise in the credit line; if the material is not included under the Creative Commons license, users will need to obtain permission from the license holder to reproduce the material. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/Non-infectious uveitis—or intraocular inflammatory disease—causes substantial visual morbidity and reduced quality of life
amongst affected individuals. To date, research of pathogenic mechanisms has largely been focused on processes involving
T lymphocyte and/or myeloid leukocyte populations. Involvement of B lymphocytes has received relatively little attention. In
contrast, B-cell pathobiology is a major field within general immunological research, and large clinical trials have showed that
treatments targeting B cells are highly effective for multiple systemic inflammatory diseases. B cells, including the terminally
differentiated plasma cell that produces antibody, are found in the human eye in different forms of non-infectious uveitis; in
some cases, these cells outnumber other leukocyte subsets. Recent case reports and small case series suggest that B-cell
blockade may be therapeutic for patients with non-infectious uveitis. As well as secretion of antibody, B cells may promote
intraocular inflammation by presentation of antigen to T cells, production of multiple inflammatory cytokines and support of
T-cell survival. B cells may also perform various immunomodulatory activities within the eye. This translational review
summarizes the evidence for B-cell involvement in non-infectious uveitis, and considers the potential contributions of B cells to
the development and control of the disease. Manipulations of B cells and/or their products are promising new approaches to the
treatment of non-infectious uveitis
