Impaired Production of Interleukin-2(IL2) in Patients with Graves' Disease by Newly Developed IL2 Radioimmunoassay

Summary

We have developed a sensitive, reproducible and specific radioimmunoassay for human interleukin-2. Using ¹²⁵I-labeled interleukin-2 and polyclonal rabbit antisera raised against recombinant human interleukin-2, a competitive inhibition assay was described which could detect 1 U/ml of human interleukin-2. Substances such as interleukin-1α, interferon β, nerve growth factor, tissue necrotizing factor, various hormones, peptides and lectins did not affect the assay. Interleukin-2 was measured in supernatants of culture media of stimulated human blood mononuclear cells. Kinetics of interleukin-2 production in seven normal lymphocytes revealed that in both PHA- and Con A-stimulations, the peak levels of interleukin-2 were seen at the end of 72 hours (113.9 + 54.4U/ml, 111.6 ± 37.3 U/ml, respectively) and then declined. Interleukin-2 levels in PHA-and Con A-stimulations of untreated Graves' disease were significantly lower (14.5 ± 15.5 U/ml, 12.3 ± 12.7 U/ml, respectively) than normal controls. However, the improvement of decreased interleukin-2 production in methimazole-treated patients with Graves' disease was observed (38.2 + 28.1 U/ml, 48.0 ± 35.6 U/ml, respectively). The present study demonstrates the usefulness of quantitating human interleukin-2 produced by human blood mononuclear cells and that there exists an impaired production of interleukin-2 in Graves' disease.

Key words

Interleukin-2 - Radioimmunoassay - Lymphocytes - Graves' disease