Levels of the soluble receptor for interleukin-2 in serum of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

Abstract

The authors assessed, using the method of sandwich enzyme immunoassay (ELISA), the soluble receptor for interleukin-2 (s-r IL-2). In patients with rheumatoid arthritis mean values of 620.5 = 500.0 u./ml were recorded which was significantly higher than in patients with osteoarthritis (p less than 0.001) (313.3 +/- 155 n./ml) and in healthy controls (181.7 +/- 159.6 n./ml). In patients with rheumatoid arthritis a correlation was found between the activity of the disease expressed by means of Lansbury's index (r = 0.61, p less than 0.01). There was no correlation between s-r IL-2 and the sedimentation rate (r = 0.32, p = n.s.). The author reviews the literature and discusses the hypothesis that s-r IL-2 acts as a competitive inhibitor for interleukin-2.