# Gene Expression in Nonspecific Orbital Inflammatory Disease

> **NIH NIH R01** · OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY · 2020 · $649,406

## Abstract

Project Summary
A group of orbital inflammatory diseases, including thyroid eye disease (TED), granulomatosis with polyangiitis
(GPA), sarcoidosis, and nonspecific orbital inflammation (NSOI) constitutes an important cause of vision loss,
pain, and diplopia. Clinical data with histopathology are sufficient to make a diagnosis for some patients but
not for others. Gene expression profiling has proven useful in the diagnosis of several cancers and other
inflammatory diseases. Specific hypotheses to be tested include that: (1) tissue from patients with TED does
not display nearly as much immune related activity as tissue from patients with GPA, sarcoidosis, or NSOI,
even if the TED samples are derived from muscle or from patients with new onset disease; (2) specific
inflammatory diseases affecting the lacrimal gland have distinct molecular signatures; (3) an algorithm based
on a limited number of transcripts expressed in orbital tissue or peripheral blood can supplement or replace
orbital biopsies; (4) a subset of patients with NSOI has a disease that can be distinguished from GPA,
sarcoidosis, and TED by molecular profiling. The results from this study are changing the understanding of the
pathogenesis of each of these diseases. This improvement in classification/diagnosis and in understanding
pathogenesis has the potential to lead to improvement in therapy and outcome.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10016308
- **Project number:** 5R01EY020249-09
- **Recipient organization:** OREGON HEALTH & SCIENCE UNIVERSITY
- **Principal Investigator:** JAMES T ROSENBAUM
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $649,406
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2011-09-30 → 2022-08-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10016308

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10016308, Gene Expression in Nonspecific Orbital Inflammatory Disease (5R01EY020249-09). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10016308. Licensed CC0.

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