title: Soluble interleukin 2 receptors in polymyalgia rheumatica/giant cell arteritis. Clinical and laboratory correlations.
abstract: Serum levels of soluble interleukin 2 receptors (sIL-2R) were measured in 21 patients with polymyalgia rheumatica (PMR)/giant cell arteritis (GCA) prior to steroid treatment. These levels were significantly elevated in patients with PMR/GCA compared with healthy controls (p = 0.002). A significantly longer duration of morning stiffness (p = 0.005) was observed in patients with a high concentration of sIL-2R. A significant correlation was observed at diagnosis between sIL-2R and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) (p = 0.01) and between ESR and C-reactive protein (CRP) (p = 0.005). We investigated prospectively a group of 10 patients over a period of 6 months of prednisone therapy. At the end of the study sIL-2R levels fell significantly compared to pretreatment values (p = 0.02), but remained significantly higher compared to controls (p = 0.02). ESR and CRP values also fell significantly compared to pretreatment levels (p = 0.0001 in both cases). We observed a significant correlation between the decrease in ESR values and the decrease in sIL-2R and CRP levels after 6 weeks (p = 0.01 in both cases) and after 6 months of therapy (p = 0.002 and p = 0.05). sIL-2R may be considered a useful serologic marker for monitoring response to steroid therapy in patients with PMR/GCA. This laboratory variable correlated more closely with ESR than with CRP. The presence of elevated levels of sIL-2R is likely to reflect T cell activation occurring in PMR/GCA. T lymphocyte activation persisted after 6 months of steroid therapy, despite rapid and continuous control of disease manifestations.
authors.affiliation: 2nd Divisione di Medicina Interna (Unità Reumatologica), Reggio Emilia, Bologna, Italy.
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Salvarani
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Macchioni
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Boiardi
authors.forename: F
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Rossi
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Casadei Maldini
authors.forename: R
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Mancini
authors.forename: E
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Beltrandi
authors.forename: C
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Spacca
authors.forename: L
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lodi
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Portioli
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D001799:Blood Sedimentation; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D005260:Female; D013700:Giant Cell Arteritis / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011111:Polymyalgia Rheumatica / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy; D011241:Prednisone / Q000592:standards / Q000627:therapeutic use; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis*
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D011241:Prednisone