title: Interleukin 2 deficiencies in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic lupus erythematosus.
abstract: The ability of peripheral blood lymphocytes from patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), rheumatoid arthritis (RA), and Sjogren's syndrome (SS) to produce interleukin 2 (IL-2) and respond to it in-vitro was examined. Phytohemagglutinin-stimulated lymphocytes from over half of the SLE patients exhibited a decreased ability to produce IL-2 while their concanavalin A-generated blast cells responded normally to exogenous IL-2. Lymphocytes from RA patients not only produced less IL-2 than normals (P less than 0.001), but also responded poorly to exogenous IL-2 (P = 0.011). These abnormalities did not correlate with the patient's age, sex, duration of disease, or disease activity. Production of and response to IL-2 was widely varied among patients with SS and not different from controls. The decreased response of RA lymphocytes to IL-2 may result from a smaller number of cell surface IL-2 receptors since IL-2 adsorption to RA cells was lower than to either SLE or normal cells. These data suggest that IL-2-related abnormalities may play a role in the disordered immunoregulation characteristic of RA and perhaps of SLE.
mesh_terms: D000042:Absorption; D000328:Adult; D001172:Arthritis, Rheumatoid / Q000276:immunology*; D003208:Concanavalin A / Q000494:pharmacology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000096:biosynthesis* / Q000378:metabolism / Q000502:physiology; D008180:Lupus Erythematosus, Systemic / Q000276:immunology*; D008213:Lymphocyte Activation; D008214:Lymphocytes / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D011971:Receptors, Immunologic; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D003208:Concanavalin A