Animal Models of Behçet Syndrome

Animal models for Behcet syndrome (BS) can be divided according to the proposed etiological paradigms. These include environmental pollution and infectious (bacterial and viral) models, as well as various autoimmune and transgenic animal models. The environmental pollution model, though resembles the multisystem symptoms of BS, has limitations to become utilized as a model for the disease since it is difficult to produce, and the onset of symptoms appears erratically in a wide time range. The Streptococcal models have similarity only to the eye involvement in BS. This model is simple to induce with high rate of homogeneity. The HSV model has multisystem manifestations resembling BS; it has a moderate reproducibility. The autoimmune models utilizing S-Ag and IRBP are monosymptomatic models of BS-like uveitis. Those models are easy to induce, and extensive studies elucidated some of the immunological characteristics of BS including the paradigm of anti-HLA autoimmunity. The α-tropomyosin model shares some clinical features of BS. This model has a potential to become a useful autoimmune model for BS. The only published trial to establish a transgenic model for BS did not show any significant similarity to the human disease except a hyper-responsiveness of neutrophils.