title: [Preliminary study on change of interleukin-2 and its receptor in the elderly].
abstract: We measured the interleukin-2 (IL-2) and soluble interleukin-2 receptor (SIL-2R) in 86 senile patients (aged 71.5 +/- 8.45) with various diseases in order to evaluate the cell immune function in the elderly. The results showed that serum IL-2 activity was significantly lower in the senile group than in the middle-aged and young group, but SIL-2R was significantly higher in the senile group, predominantly in the cases of tumor and diabetes. It was also noted that lowered IL-2 activity and abnormal elevation of SIL-2R in late stage and diffused metastatic tumour patients were more significant than in other groups of senile patients. The magnitude of decrease in IL-2 activity and increase in SIL-2R correlated well with the severity of spread of tumour, suggesting that the higher the SIL-2R level goes, the worse the prognosis may be.
authors.affiliation: Department of Internal Medicine, First Affiliated Hospital.
authors.forename: B
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Dong
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Zhou
authors.forename: Z
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Wang
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D003920:Diabetes Mellitus / Q000276:immunology*; D006801:Humans; D007376:Interleukin-2 / Q000097:blood*; D008171:Lung Diseases / Q000276:immunology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000276:immunology*; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2 / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D007376:Interleukin-2; D015375:Receptors, Interleukin-2