Interleukin-2 in hepatic schistosomiasis

Interleukin-2 was assayed in 10 patients with early hepatic schistosomiasis [group I], 10 others with chronic HBV [group II] and 10 more with mixed schistosomal and HBV infections [group III] as well as 10 normal healthy controls [group IV]. Besides routine laboratory tests, ultrasound, liver biopsies and serological tests were used for proper diagnosis and grouping of patients. The results revealed that the mean interleukin-2 was lower in the three groups of patients than in controls. It was lowest in cases with chronic hepatitis B only and highest in those with early hepatic schistosomiasis. It could be suggested that low interleukin-2 production, particularly in early hepatic schistosomal patients, might be related to the fact that peripheral mononuclear cells do not reflect the true image of what is happening in affected tissues

Diuresis versus therapeutic abdominal paracentesis: effects on ascitic fluid interleukin-1, opsonic activity and complement

Twenty-four patients were randomly allocated to two groups: Group A included 12 patients treated with spironolactone [200-400 mg/day] and group B included 12 patients treated twice weekly with 34 l paracentesis for two weeks. Ascitic fluid samples from all patients were analyzed for total protein and albumin concentrations. C3 and IL-1 beta levels and OA at the beginning and two weeks after treatment. The results indicated that IL-1 beta, an immunoregulatory cytokine that stimulates a variety of cells that function as effector of immune response towards antigens, was significantly decreased following paracentesis, while it remained almost stable among the diuretic treated patients. The ascitic fluid OA and C3 concentrations increased significantly in diuretic treated patients [P <0.05]; while, patients treated with paracentesis had significantly decreased C3 concentration, and their ascitic fluid OA remained stable