Serum level of soluble Interleukin-2 receptor among human papilloma virus infected female patients

Progression from infection with human papillomavirus (HPV) to cervical cancer in some women is thought to involve a permissive host environment, one in which immune response is mobilized in an inappropriate manner. Interleukin-2 (IL-2) is one of the most studied cytokines driving T-cell proliferation and survival. Soluble Interleukin-2 receptor (sIL2R) was found to play an immunoregulatory role and is detected in the serum of healthy individuals but increases in association with certain types of neoplasms. The aim of the current study was to assess the serum level of sIL2R in HPV infected female patients with genital warts compared to healthy control women and to correlate the results with cervical cytology (pap smear) results to determine the utility of measuring the serum sIL2R levels in screening of precancerous changes in cervix. The study was conducted on 90 Egyptian female patients with genital warts and 90 apparently healthy controls. Cervical brush samples were taken for both conventional Pap cytology and detection of HPV-DNA. Serum levels of sIL2R were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). Patients were divided into two groups according to the result of Pap smear: group 1 with Low-grade squamous intraepithelial lesion (LSIL) having flat condyloma on cervix and group 2 with normal pap smear having condyloma accuminata lesions. Serum sIL2R levels of HPV infected patients showed a statistically significant higher median when compared to controls (p value < 0.0001). Also, group 1 showed a statistically significant higher median compared to group 2 regarding sIL2R levels (p value < 0.0001). sIL2R was found to be perfect and reliable in differentiation between group 1 and group 2. Also, it may be useful to use serum sIL2R level for screening of HPV infections and cervical cancer.