[The use of recombinant interleukin-2 in children with encephalitis].

OBJECTIVE: To study the efficacy of the domestic recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) in the complex treatment of encephalitis. MATERIAL AND METHODS: Forty patients, aged from 6 months to 17 years, were treated with the drug. A comparison group involved 35 patients who did not receive the drug. RESULTS: Recombinant IL-2 reduced (p<0.05) the aggravation of symptoms to 5.4±1.3 days, neurological deficit (1.6±0.2 EDSS scores at discharge from the hospital), frequency of exacerbations (from 22.9 to 5%) and frequency of cases with the development of multiple sclerosis during 3 years (from 17.1 to 2.5%). Parameters of the drug efficacy were correlated with positive changes in immunological parameters after 3-4 days of treatment. The study of multimodal evoked potentials demonstrated the positive effect of the drug on the central afferent conduction times. The follow-up MRI examination showed the decrease in the frequency of focal changes. CONCLUSION: Recombinant IL-2 is recommended for treatment of children with encephalitis.