| Abstract | OBJECTIVE. To evaluate the association of the level of soluble serum interleukin-2 receptor (sIL-2R) with disease activity and response to therapy in patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA). METHODS. The sIL-2R levels of 148 patients with refractory RA were determined by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. This parameter was correlated with other clinical observations obtained during a prospective, randomized, placebo-controlled trial of methotrexate, sponsored by the Cooperative Systematic Studies of Rheumatic Diseases consortium. Using statistical modeling, the usefulness of sIL-2R as a measure of disease activity and a predictor of outcome was evaluated. RESULTS. The mean sIL-2R level in all RA patients was markedly elevated compared with that in normal control subjects, and decreased significantly during the trial. There was no correlation of the sIL-2R level and the joint pain/tenderness count either at study entry or study end. There was a significant correlation of the sIL-2R level and the erythrocyte sedimentation rate, both at study entry and study end. A multiple linear regression model showed that treatment with methotrexate, but not the sIL-2R level or the change in sIL-2R level, predicted a change in joint count. A stepwise multiple logistic regression model defined no significant predictive information for outcome for the level of sIL-2R at study entry. CONCLUSION. After controlling for the simultaneous effects of other important clinical variables, the level of sIL-2R does not appear to predict the response to methotrexate in patients with refractory RA. Further analysis of cohorts of patients with earlier RA needs to be performed. |
| Authors | R P Polisson, M A Dooley, D V Dawson, D S Pisetsky
(Affiliation: Arthritis Unit of the Medical Service, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA 02114.)
|
| Journal | Arthritis and rheumatism
(Arthritis Rheum)
Vol. 37
Issue 1
Pg. 50-6
(Jan 1994)
ISSN: 0004-3591 UNITED STATES |
| PMID | 8129764
(Publication Type: Clinical Trial, Journal Article, Randomized Controlled Trial, Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't)
|
| Chemical References |
- Receptors, Interleukin-2
- Methotrexate
|
| Topics |
- Adult
- Aged
- Arthritis, Rheumatoid
(blood, drug therapy)
- Female
- Humans
- Linear Models
- Male
- Methotrexate
(therapeutic use)
- Middle Aged
- Receptors, Interleukin-2
(analysis)
- Regression Analysis
|
