@article {16610,
	title = {Prognostic significance of soluble interleukin-2 receptor levels in patients with dilated cardiomyopathy},
	journal = {Eur.J.Clin.Invest},
	volume = {33},
	year = {2003},
	note = {DA - 20030610 IS - 0014-2972 (Print) IS - 0014-2972 (Linking) LA - eng PT - Journal Article RN - 0 (Receptors, Interleukin-2) SB - IM},
	month = {2003/06//},
	pages = {443 - 448},
	abstract = {BACKGROUND: Activation of T lymphocytes is thought to mediate myocardial dysfunction in dilated cardiomyopathy (CMP), probably through cytotoxic cytokines, but its value as a prognostic factor has not been evaluated. METHODS: For 2 years we prospectively followed 76 patients (65 males, 11 females, age 49 +/- 7 years) with CMP and New York Heart Association(NYHA) Class II-III heart failure; left ventricular (LV) function was assessed echocardiographically. Thirty-three patients (28 males, five females, age 52 +/- 6 years) with ischaemic heart disease (IHD) and similar NYHA and LV function characteristics were used as controls. Serum sIL-2R levels, peripheral blood lymphocyte proliferation (basal, + concanavalin A) and HLA-DQB1 genotyping was carried out in all patients. RESULTS: The CMP patients had increased sIL-2R levels (1259 +/- 130 pg mL-1) compared with the IHD patients (703 +/- 80 pg mL-1, P \&lt; 0.01, only 3 \&gt; 800 pg mL-1). In the CMP patients, there was a significant (r = +0.45, P= 0.04) correlation between sIL-2R and the LV end-diastolic diameter but not with the LV ejection fraction or NYHA Class. During the 24-month follow up, 17 of the CMP patients had an adverse clinical course (death, need for cardiac transplantation, or worsening heart failure). Of these, 14 (75\%) had elevated (\&gt;or= 800 pg mL-1) sIL-2R levels (Group I) compared with only five (6\%) with a stable clinical course (Group II). Neither [3H] thymidine incorporation into the peripheral blood lymphocytes nor the excess of HLA-DQB1-30 histidine homozygotes in the Group I patients (38\% vs. 17\%, P \&lt; 0.05) could predict the clinical outcome. CONCLUSION: Increased sIL-2R levels in CMP patients are an independent predictor of a more aggressive clinical course},
	keywords = {Blood, Cardiomyopathy,Dilated, Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay, Female, Greece, Humans, Male, Middle Aged, Prognosis, Prospective Studies, Receptors,Interleukin-2, Severity of Illness Index, Solubility, T-Lymphocytes},
	url = {PM:12795639},
	author = {LIMAS, CJ and Hasikidis, C and Iakovou, J and Kroupis, C. and Haidaroglou, A and Cokkinos, D.V.}
}
