Interleukin-2, its soluble receptor, and soluble T8 antigen in acute ischemic stroke

The treatment of neoplasia with interleukin-2 (IL-2) can be complicated by neurological deficits resembling transient Ischemic attack and stroke. We investigated whether interleukin-2 contributes to the natural course of cerebrovascular ischemia and particularly to the pathogenesis of infection-associated stroke. Plasma levels of interleukin-2 were below the level of detectability in almost all measurements. Patients with and without previous infection (n = 11, 805 ±445 U/ml vs n = 19, 824 ± 501 U/ml) did not have significantly higher levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptors than control subjects with (n = 14, 667 ± 229 U/ml) or without vascular risk factors (n = 17, 567 ± 176 U/ml). Receptor levels increased in patients during the first week after stroke (n = 15, 1157 ± 1013, p < 0.02). Levels of soluble T8 antigen (sT8) were higher in patients (n - 26, 320 ± 112 U/ml) than in healthy control subjects (n = 15, 246 ± 92 U/ml; p < 0.05) and sT8 levels increased during the first week after stroke (p < 0.05). These results reflect an immunological response to the cerebral infarct; they do not indicate a general role of the IL-2 system in the pathogenesis of ischemic stroke with or without previous infection.