[The study of interleukin-2 and interleukin-2 receptor in patients with pulmonary tuberculosis]

IL-2 level and IL-2R expression of peripheral blood lymphocytes (PBL) were measured in 25 patients with type III and advanced tuberculosis (TB). The results showed that IL-2 level in patients was lower than that in controls, and that in the patients whose history of TB was over 3 years was significantly lower than that in the patients whose history of TB was within 3 years; There was no significant difference between the IL-2R expression on unstimulated PBL from patients and controls. IL-2R expression in PHA-stimulated PBL after culturing 72 hours in patients was significantly lower than that in controls, and that in the patients over 3 years was significantly lower than that in the patients within 3 years. The data indicated that the function of T helper cells in patients with TB was impaired, and the impairment was more serious in the patients with longer illness.