[Immune activity and serum interleukin-2-receptor concentration in autoimmune thyroid diseases]

Cytokines serum levels as the markers of thyroid activation in Graves' disease

In order to examine which cytokine could be used as a marker of the biological effect of thyroid hormones or anti-thyroid antibodies in Graves' disease (GD) patients, we simultaneously evaluated the concentrations of TSH, free thyroid hormones (fT3 and fT4), anti-thyroid antibodies (anti-TPO and anti-TG) and a group of cytokines: interleukin-2 (IL-2), tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNFalpha), interleukin-6 (IL-6) and their soluble receptors (sIL-2R, sTNFalphaR, sIL-6R) as well as interleukin-10 (IL-10) in eight GD females and nine normal controls. We found that serum sIL-2R concentrations of GD patients had only the tendency to be higher versus controls, but strong positive correlations between fT3 and fT4 and sIL-2R in peripheral blood of GD subjects were revealed. We showed that sIL-2R was the best cytokine marker, showing very good correlation with the endocrine status of GD patients.

Low interleukin-2 receptor levels in serum of patients with insulin-dependent diabetes

Interleukin-2 receptors are released in the circulation in response to antigenic ro mitogenic stimulation of T-lymphocytes. Abnormal serum interleukin-2 receptor levels have been found in young children with type 1 diabetes and "prediabetes." We measured interleukin-2 receptor levels in 17 patients with newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes, 21 patients with long-standing type 1 diabetes, 19 patients with long-standing type 2 diabetes, 19 islet-cell antibody positive nondiabetic polyendocrine patients, 12 islet-cell antibody-positive first-degree relatives of patients with type 1 diabetes and compared the results to age- and sex-matched normal controls. We found significantly lower interleukin-2 receptor levels in patients with newly diagnosed and long-standing type 1 diabetes compared to normal controls (87 +/- 11 and 93 +/- 11 vs. 142 +/- 25 and 132 +/- 40 U/ml, P < 0.001 and P < 0.01). There were no significant differences in interleukin-2 receptor levels between prediabetic groups and normal controls or patients with long-standing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. There was no correlation between glycosylated hemoglobin, blood glucose levels, and interleukin-2 receptor in the groups with long-standing type 1 or type 2 diabetes. We conclude that patients with type 1 diabetes have low interleukin-2 receptor serum levels. This phenomenon is acquired close to disease onset and is unlikely to be an early markers of type 1 diabetes.