title: Prospective serial analysis of interleukin-2 and soluble interleukin-2 receptor in relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis.
abstract: We performed a longitudinal analysis of serum interleukin-2 (IL-2) and soluble IL-2 (sIL-2R) concentrations in 60 patients with relapsing-remitting (R-R) multiple sclerosis (MS) as well as in 33 age- and sex-matched normal controls. Overall, we found that serum IL-2 levels remained low (less than 10 U/ml) and did not change appreciably over time; however, marked fluctuations in sIL-2R levels were observed in both the patient and control groups. Using patients as their own controls, we calculated an interrelapse (disease stable) mean sIL-2R concentration as a baseline for comparison with relapse values; sIL-2R levels greater than the 90th percentile of the Student's t distribution of stable values were defined as "peaks." There were a total of 27 sIL-2R peaks, eight (30%) of which correlated with clinical relapses but were potentially predictive of only 18% (8/45) of all the recorded clinical relapses. There was no difference in disease severity (Expanded Disability Status Scale) score between peak-correlated and noncorrelated relapses. Our data suggest that despite reports of elevated levels of IL-2 and sIL-2R in MS, neither may be a useful marker for predicting clinical disease activity in R-R MS.
authors.affiliation: Department of Neuroimmunology, McGill University, Montreal, PQ, Canada.
authors.forename: M S
authors.initials: MS
authors.lastname: Freedman
authors.forename: K L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Muth
authors.forename: J L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Trotter
authors.forename: C N
authors.initials: CN
authors.lastname: Yoshizawa
authors.forename: J P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Antel
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000627:therapeutic use; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D008875:Middle Aged; D009103:Multiple Sclerosis / Q000097:blood* / Q000188:drug therapy / Q000503:physiopathology; D011446:Prospective Studies; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D012008:Recurrence; D012680:Sensitivity and Specificity; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016899:Interferon-beta