[Interleukin 2 and rheumatoid polyarthritis]

The dysimmune state associated with rheumatoid arthritis was approached by the study of a T lymphocyte function, the production of helper factor: Interleukin 2 (I12). This production was measured in 11 patients in comparison with 9 controls. The I12 activity is significantly higher in the patient group. Several mechanisms may be involved in this over-production. The radiosensitive T suppressor function, which was also investigated in this study, was the same in the two groups, so can not explain this overproduction. However, the radiosensitive suppressor function is very variable in the patients, suggesting a clinical correlation which could not be confirmed in this small group of subjects.