Age-dependent changes of serum soluble CD30 concentration in children

CD30 was originally described as a marker on Reed-Sternberg cells in Hodgkin lymphoma. The extracellular portion of CD30 is proteolytically cleaved from CD30(+) cells, to produce a soluble form of the molecule (sCD30) detectable in serum. Measurement of sCD30 concentration in serum has been suggested to be a potential tool in monitoring of inflammatory status in variety of diseases. Several investigators reported the relevance for sCD30 as a predictive marker for allograft rejection following organ transplantation. The aim of the study was to verify whether sCD30 serum concentrations may be affected by an age in healthy children. Heparinized venous blood was taken from 78 healthy children. For the analysis of sCD30 levels, the commercially available sCD30 ELISA was used. The sCD30 was detected in all serum samples and concentrations ranged from 6.75 to 68.07 ng/mL. The statistical analysis of all individuals showed that sCD30 concentration was significantly age depended (r = -0.618, p < 0.0001). When sCD30 concentrations were analyzed in regard to gender, no significant differences were identified in age subgroups.