Anterior chamber-associated immune deviation.

The eye possesses a critical method of self-preservation in response to intraocular antigen presentation. Instead of conventional immunity by means of delayed-type hypersensitivity (DTH), the eye participates in a systemic immune response involving the thymus and spleen, ultimately leading to suppression of cell-mediated (T helper 1) immunity. The immune response begins with intraocular capture of antigen by specialized ocular antigen-presenting cells (APCs). These activated APCs then migrate preferentially to the marginal zone of the spleen, where they become part of an intricate and highly specific cluster of immune cells. The end result is the emergence of a population of antigen-specific T-regulatory lymphocytes that return to the eye and suppress DTH.