Soluble CD4 and CD8 molecules in patients with systemic sclerosis.

The concentrations of sCD4 and sCD8 in 69 patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc) were examined by using a sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The patients with SSc had significantly higher concentrations of sCD8 (mean 249.2 U/ml (SD 155.1), median 224 U/ml) than the normal subjects (mean 149.3 U/ml (SD 42.1), median 148 U/ml). The concentration of sCD4 in patients with SSc were significantly lower (mean 6.2 U/ml (SD 3.8), median 5.0 U/ml) than in the normal subjects (mean 10.9 U/ml (SD 4.1), median 10.3 U/ml). The concentration of sCD8 in patients with diffuse sclerosis tended to be higher than in those with sclerodactyly.