title: Concomitant modulation of serum-soluble interleukin-2 receptor and alveolar macrophage interleukin-2 receptor in sarcoidosis.
abstract: Interleukin-2 receptor (IL-2R) expression on bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) cells was studied in patients with sarcoidosis using immune cytochemistry and cytometric analysis. A low percentage of alveolar lymphocytes (AL) was found positive for IL-2R, with 7% in patients with impaired lung function and 6% in patients with normal lung function (0.4% in control subjects). Expression of IL-2R on alveolar macrophages (AM) was considerably higher, with 25% in patients with lung function impairment compared with 14% in patients without lung function impairment (1.5% in control subjects). Serum-soluble IL-2R (ssIL-2R) was significantly elevated only in patients with impaired lung function (140.0 pM), but not in patients with normal lung function (52.2 pM; control subjects, 40.0 pM). These elevated levels of ssIL-2R positively correlated with the percentage of IL-2R positive AM (p < 0.001). Immunosuppressive treatment in three patients resulted in a decrease of IL-2R+ AM and in a decrease of ssIL-2R, whereas IL-2R+ AL were unaffected. The positive correlation and the concomitant decrease of IL-2R+ AM and ssIL-2R are consistent with the idea that in sarcoidosis with clinically apparent lung involvement, elevated levels of ssIL-2R may be derived from AM and may thus be a useful indicator of the degree of activation of these cells.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, Klinikum Innestadt, University of Munich, Germany.
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pforte
authors.forename: A
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Brunner
authors.forename: P
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Gais
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Burger
authors.forename: G
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Breyer
authors.forename: M
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ströbel
authors.forename: K
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Häussinger
authors.forename: H W
authors.initials: HW
authors.lastname: Ziegler-Heitbrock
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry / Q000166:cytology; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007150:Immunohistochemistry; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D016676:Macrophages, Alveolar / Q000737:chemistry / Q000378:metabolism*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009693:Nucleic Acid Hybridization / Q000379:methods / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D012313:RNA / Q000235:genetics; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000032:analysis / Q000378:metabolism*; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012507:Sarcoidosis / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000378:metabolism*; D012995:Solubility
chemical_list: D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2; D012313:RNA