DeCure's autonomous Rare AI scientist is researching a drug-repurposing hypothesis for iridocyclitis — screening already-approved drugs against its 9-gene Open Targets disease module to publish open-access research. Research is fast; the path to publication is funded in milestone stages.
Disease moduleIridocyclitis maps to a 9-gene Open Targets module — the target space DeCure's AI scientist screens approved drugs against.
DeCure.ai methodSignature reversal (LINCS) plus network proximity (STRING) rank already-approved drugs likely to perturb this module — the same engine that produces DeCure.ai's repurposing hypotheses.
Repurposing thesisScreening approved medicines against this disease module, then publishing the evidence for the strongest candidate. Known pharmacology and human exposure data make the first question sharper — they do not establish safety or efficacy in a new indication.
Research record
01
ResearchComing soon
Candidate research + dossier — target rationale, drug-repurposing thesis and evidence pack.proof: Published dossier + on-chain hash
02
ValidationComing soon
In-vitro biological validation at a contract research org (CRO).proof: CRO contract + in-vitro report
03
Peer review & paperComing soon
Peer-reviewed paper published open-access (preprint + journal).proof: DOI + open-access link + on-chain hash
Current lead
No approved-drug candidate for iridocyclitis is corroborated in the literature DeepSearch retrieved. Some conditions are managed with non-pharmacological care — a device, surgery or physical therapy — rather than a medicine; that may be the case here, or the literature we found may simply be too sparse yet to support a drug-repurposing angle.
Molecular view
mitogen-activated protein kinase 14 (MAPK14) — MAPK14 is one of the genes genetically linked to this disease in Open Targets — shown as context, not as a drug target we're pursuing: no approved-drug candidate for this disease is yet corroborated in the literature we found.
Loading structure…
helix sheet bogdrag to rotate · scroll to zoom
RCSB Protein Data Bank · entry 3OEF · 1.6 Å · ligand octyl beta-D-glucopyranoside (BOG). Experimental structure, not a prediction.
What the evidence adds up to
A 1996 multicentre controlled trial of oral acyclovir for herpes simplex virus iridocyclitis enrolled only 50 of a planned 104 patients over four years before stopping for slow recruitment. Patients received a 10-week course of either oral acyclovir 400 mg five times daily or placebo, alongside topical trifluridine and a topical corticosteroid. Treatment failure occurred in 11 of 22 patients (50%) in the acyclovir group and in 19 of 28 patients (68%) in the placebo group. The adjusted rate ratio for treatment failure during the 10-week treatment period was 0.43 (90% CI 0.18–1.02; P = .06), and during the 16-week follow-up period was 0.60 (90% CI 0.29–1.25; P = .13). The authors concluded the number of patients was too small for statistically conclusive results, though a trend suggested possible benefit of acyclovir after the first three weeks.
A 1969 double-blind controlled trial of azathioprine in active chronic iridocyclitis is described in a brief abstract as the first fully controlled assessment of any immunosuppressive therapy in man, but no results, patient numbers, or outcomes are reported in the provided text.
A 2010 study compared periocular injection with subconjunctival injection in 80 patients with iridocyclitis, divided by admission order. The authors report a significant difference in complications between the two groups, with periocular injection proving superior, and describe it as easy, safe, rapid, and less painful. No concrete numbers for complication rates or any measure of inflammation control are given.
A 2025 Mendelian randomisation study used GWAS summary data (iridocyclitis cases n = 7306, controls n = 357,814) to explore causal relationships between genetically predicted inflammatory proteins and iridocyclitis. Genetically predicted high levels of eotaxin, FGF23, TRAIL, and Neurotrophin-3 were associated with increased risk of iridocyclitis, while high IL-2 was associated with decreased risk. Subtype analysis linked eotaxin and TRAIL to acute/subacute iridocyclitis, and cystatin D, TNFRSF9, and caspase 8 to chronic iridocyclitis; CCL20 and CDCP1 were associated with decreased risk of chronic iridocyclitis. The authors call for further studies to elucidate precise mechanisms. What is still missing are adequately powered randomised trials for acyclovir, any published outcome data for azathioprine, and prospective clinical validation of the inflammatory protein targets identified by genetics.
Evidence
Retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works and resolved on OpenAlex — ranked by citations, including the results that did not work.
Archives of Ophthalmology · 1996 · 71 citations
A Controlled Trial of Oral Acyclovir for Iridocyclitis Caused by Herpes Simplex Virus
AbstractOBJECTIVE: To assess the benefit of adding oral acyclovir to a regimen of topical prednisolone phosphate and trifluridine for the treatment of iridocyclitis caused by herpes simplex virus (HSV). METHODS: Patients with HSV iridocyclitis were enrolled in a multicenter controlled clinical trial supported by the National Eye Institute, Bethesda, Md, and randomly assigned to receive a 10-week course of either oral acyclovir, 400 mg, 5 times daily, or oral placebo in conjunction with regimens of topical trifluridine and a topical corticosteroid. Follow-up examinations were performed weekly during the 10-week treatment period, every 2 weeks for an additional 6 weeks, and at 26 weeks after enrollment in the trial. Treatment failure was defined as a persistence or worsening of ocular inflammation, withdrawal of medication because of toxicity, or a request by the patient to withdraw from the trial for any reason. The trial was stopped because of slow recruitment after only 50 of the originally planned 104 patients were enrolled in more than 4 years. RESULTS: A treatment failure occurred in 11 (50%) of the 22 patients in the acyclovir-treated group and in 19 (68%) of the 28 patients in the placebo group. Compared with the placebo group, the adjusted rate ratio for a treatment failure in the acyclovir-treated group during the 10-week treatment period was 0.43 (90% confidence interval, 0.18-1.02; P = .06, 1-tailed) and during the 16-week follow-up period (10-week treatment period plus 6-week observation period) was 0.60 (90% confidence interval, 0.29-1.25; P = .13, 1-tailed in a proportional hazards model). The treatment effect seemed slightly greater when only the patients with a persistence or worsening of ocular HSV disease were considered as treatment failures (ie, excludes terminations because of toxic effects of the drug and patients who requested to withdraw from the trial). By life-table analysis, similar results were obtained; the possible benefit of acyclovir became apparent after the first 3 weeks of follow-up. CONCLUSION: While the number of patients recruited in this trial was too small to achieve statistically conclusive results, the trend in the results suggests a benefit of oral acyclovir in the treatment of HSV iridocyclitis in patients receiving topical corticosteroids and trifluridine prophylaxis.
British Journal of Ophthalmology · 1969 · 37 citations · open access
Azathioprine in active chronic iridocyclitis. A double-blind controlled trial.
AbstractActive chronic iridocyclitis is a suspected autoimmune disease, although specific autoanti- bodies to uveal or lens tissue are not demonstrable. The condition may respond to corticosteroid drugs, but these seldom effect a "cure" (Duke-Elder and Perkins, I966). Hence we decided to assess whether the immunosuppressive drug, azathioprine, would induce remissions of active chronic iridocyclitis, and if so, whether such remissions would be permanent. This to our knowledge has been the first fully controlled double-blind assessment using objective criteria of any form of immunosuppressive therapy in man.
Genetics of Circulating Inflammatory Proteins and Iridocyclitis: An Exploratory Mendelian Randomization Study
AbstractPurpose: This study aimed to explore the potential causal relationship between genetically determined elevated levels of pro-inflammatory cytokines and iridocyclitis, including its subtypes: acute and subacute iridocyclitis (ASIR) and chronic iridocyclitis (CIR). Methods: A two-sample Mendelian randomization (MR) analysis was conducted using genome-wide association study (GWAS) summary data for inflammatory cytokines (cases, n = 14,824), iridocyclitis (IR; cases, n = 7306 and controls, n = 357,814), and its subtypes (ASIR: cases, n = 6166 and controls, n = 357,814; and CIR: cases, n = 1401 and controls, n = 357,814). The inverse variance-weighted (IVW) method served as the primary analysis method. Supplementary analytic methods included MR Egger, Weighted median, Weighted mode, and Simple mode methods. Pleiotropy and heterogeneity were evaluated using the Cochran's Q test, MR Egger intercept test, MR Pleiotropy RESidual Sum and Outlier test (MR-PRESSO), Bayesian colocalization analysis, and Linkage disequilibrium score regression (LDSC) analysis. Results: Genetically predicted high levels of eotaxin, fibroblast growth factor 23 (FGF23), TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL), and Neurotrophin-3 were associated with an increased risk of IR. On the contrary, a high level of interleukin (IL)-2 was associated with a decreased risk of IR. Meanwhile, the IR subgroup analysis demonstrated that high levels of eotaxin and TRAIL were also associated with an increased risk of ASIR. High levels of cystatin D, tumor necrosis factor receptor superfamily member 9 (TNFRSF9), and caspase 8 were associated with an increased risk of CIR. CCL20 and CDCP1 were associated with a decreased risk of CIR. Heterogeneity and pleiotropy tests demonstrated that our findings were stable and reliable. Conclusions: Inflammatory cytokines are involved in the occurrence of IR and its subtypes. Further studies are warranted to elucidate the precise mechanisms of inflammatory cytokines in IR and its subtypes. Translational Relevance: The present study highlighted the role of inflammatory cytokines in the development of IR.
The Journal of practical nursing · 2010 · 0 citations
Comparative study of periocular injection and subconjunctival injection in treatment of iridocyclitis
AbstractObjective To discuss different effect of periocular injection and subconjunctival injection in treatment of iridocyclitis. Methods Eighty people with iridocyclitis were divided into group A and group B according to their admission order. Group A adopted periocular injection and group B was given subconjunctival injection. The incidence of complication was compared between the two groups. Results Significant difference existed in complications and related factors between two groups after treatment, periocular injection proved to be superior to subconjunctival injection. Conclusions Periocular injection is a desirable treatment method for iridocyclitis. It is easy to operate, safe, rapid and with less pain, so it is worthy of clinical application.
Key words:
Periocular injection; Subconjunctival injection; Iridocyclitis
Disease module: DeepOracle (Open Targets). Structures: RDKit from PubChem SMILES. Literature: retrieved by DeepSearch across 234,678,978 indexed works (targeted per-candidate search), resolved on OpenAlex.
DeCure is a research and publication project, not medical advice and not a treatment. "DeCure for X" describes a research goal, not a claim that a cure exists. Backing a cure is a contribution to fund the research — it is not an investment, and confers no yield, royalty, equity or IP ownership. Papers are published open-access by the DeCure.ai DAO.
