Serum and CSF levels of soluble interleukin-2 receptors in MS and other neurological diseases: a reappraisal.

Soluble interleukin-2 receptors (sIL-2-R) were determined longitudinally in sera from 59 patients with multiple sclerosis (MS), from 20 patients with Guillain-Barré syndrome (GBS) and from patients with other non-inflammatory disorders of the nervous system, as well as in 147 CSF samples collected for diagnostic purposes. Significantly increased serum levels of sIL2-R were observed early in the course of GBS and in progressive (relapsing or chronic) MS, but not in patients with clinically stable MS or with an acute relapse followed by complete remission. CSF levels were high in infections of the central nervous system and in meningeal carcinomatosis, as a result of an intrathecal production, but were normal in GBS and in most (94%) MS patients.