Detection of soluble interleukin-2 receptor in idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura

Abstract

We measured soluble interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) in serum samples from 57 patients with idiopathic thrombocytopenic purpura (ITP). The sIL-2R level was significantly increased in the ITP patients (481.3±378.5 U/ml) compared with controls (176.2±66.9 U/ml) (p<0.001), and was significantly higher in 8 patients positive for hepatitis C virus (HCV) antibody positive (1, 140.7±194.3 U/ml) than in 49 HCV-antibody negative patients (378.9±278.6 U/ml) (p<0.0001). There was also a significant difference between the HCV-antibody negative ITP patients and the controls (p<0.01). Elevated sIL-2R levels correlated with the CD 4/8 ratio (p<0.05), but not with the platelet count or the level of platelet-associated IgG. The increase of sIL-2R in ITP may be related to the immunological abnormalities underlying this disease.