Follow-up of soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels after thymectomy in patients with myasthenia gravis.
Soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) levels were followed up after thymectomy by a quantitative immunoradiometric assay in 59 patients with myasthenia gravis (MG). Increased levels of sIL-2R were found in 30.5% of the patients before thymectomy. Serum levels were significantly higher in severely affected patients. Sequential sampling after thymectomy indicated a significant and progressive decline of sIL-2R levels within 2 years after surgery, which was well associated with clinical improvement or remission. The sIL-2R purified from sera of patients with MG had a molecular mass of 45 kDa as the normal sIL-2R. The decline after thymectomy of sIL-2R titers suggests a possible role of the thymus in the occurrence of sIL-2R in the periphery. Soluble IL-2R levels may represent a marker of disease severity in MG, which might be useful in the follow-up of individual patients.
Cohen-Kaminsky
S
S
CNRS URA-1159, Laboratoire d'Immunologie, Hôpital Marie Lannelongue, Le Plessis-Robinson, France.
Jacques
Y
Y
Aime
C
C
Safar
D
D
Morel
E
E
Berrih-Aknin
S
S
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D002846:Chromatography, Affinity; D004591:Electrophoresis, Polyacrylamide Gel; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009157:Myasthenia Gravis / Q000097:blood*; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility; D013934:Thymectomy
D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2