TEAM-Studie

Treatment tested

• Interferon beta
• Interferon beta-1a

  Interferon alpha/beta receptor agonist

Compared with

• Methotrexate

  Dihydrofolate reductase inhibitor

• Methotrexat

Other measures (3)

Inclusion Criteria: * Male and female patients age 18 and over * Active uni- or bilateral non-infectious intermediate uveitis of at least 1 year duration * Visual acuity on the worse eye at least 0.1 (20/200) and maximally 0.6 (20/30) caused by macular edema, defined by foveal thickness ≥ 250 µm * Either primary uveitis or diagnosis of Multiple Sclerosis * Previous treatment with oral corticosteroids in a dose of 0.5 mg per kg bodyweight of prednisone equivalent without sufficient success * Previous treatment with other immunosuppressive drugs is facultative Exclusion Criteria: * Exclusively anterior uveitis * Absence of macular edema * Optic nerve atrophy after neuritis nervi optici * Peri-or intraocular injection of corticosteroids in the previous 3 months * Allergies against any interferon * Depression diagnosed by a psychiatrist * Hepatic disease * Infectious Uveitis * Other auto-immune diseases but MS * Pregnancy, Lactation * Lack of reliable contraception * Patients with metabolic, psychiatric or neoplastic diseases * Active diseases like asthma, psoriasis or inflammatory bowel disease who have to be treated with corticosteroids * primary or secondary immune deficiency * Tuberculosis or other infectious lung diseases * Hepatitis B or C * Life vaccination during the trial duration

The purpose of this study is to investigate if interferon beta is superior to the standard treatment with Methotrexate for the treatment of intermediate uveitis and macular edema.