Clinical significance of determination of changes of serum IL-2, sIL-2R, IL-13 and PDGF levels in patients with viral hepatitis B

Objective: To study the clinical significance of changes of serum IL-2, sIL-2R, IL-13 and platalet derived growth factor (PDGF) levels in patients with viral hepatitis B. Methods: Serum IL-2, sIL-2R (with RIA) and IL-13, PDGF (with ELISA) levels were determined in 1) 20 patients with acute hepatitis B 2) 90 patients with chronic hepatitis 3) 40 patients with advanced hepatitis and 4) 45 controls. Results: Serum levels of IL-2 were slightly lower in patients with acute hepatitis than those in controls but without significant differences (P>0.05). The levels were significantly lower in patients with chronic and advarced hepatitis than those in controls (P<0.05). Serum levels of sIL-2R were significantly higher in all the hepatitis patients (P<0.01) with the higher levels in the most advanced cases. Serum IL-13 and PDGF levels were also significantly higher in all the hepatitis patients than those in controls (P<0.05 and P<0.01), with higher levels in more advanced patients. Conclusion: Changes of serum levels of these cytokins were closely related to the disease process of viral hepatitis and might be of prognostic importance. (authors)