[Occurrence of free receptor for interleukin 2 in serum and quantitative determinations of CD25+ in patients infected...

Serum soluble interleukin 2 receptor (sIL-2R) concentration and the percentage of lymphocytes presenting this receptor (CD25+) were investigated in 28 asymptomatic HIV carriers or patients with lymphadenopathy only and in 15 AIDS patients. The levels of sIL-2R were found to be higher in AIDS patients (mean 1060 U/ml) than in persons during the initial stages of infection (mean 750 U/ml) or controls (mean 470 U/ml). No significant differences in the quantity of CD25+ lymphocytes between these groups were observed, with the means of 1.0; 1.3 and 1.1, respectively. However, a decrease in percentage of these cells were found in patients with advanced HIV infection. Since sIL-2R is regarded as a marker of immune system activation its detection could be helpful in the assessment of the immune status impairment in HIV infected patients.