We investigated the clinical effects and drug toxicities of high concentrated recombinant human alpha-interferon eyedrops in acute epidemic keratoconjunctivitis(ARK). We examined the side effects of alpha-interferon eyedrops after instillation to the 34 general healthy patients, and compared the clinical effects after randomized blind administration of the different concentration eyedrops or placebo in 117 AEK. No significant ocular complications in the 34 general healthy patients was observed. In AEK, improvement of symptoms and signs were observed at the mean 3.2 days of 10.000 IU/ml group, 3.1 days of 100,000 IU/ml group, and 3.2 days of 500,000 IU/ml group after instillation of alpha-interferon. comparing 4.4 days of placebo(P<0.01). We have also observed early absorption of conjunctival pseudomembrane, and the decreased incidence of keratitis. We suggest that the topical application of alpha-interferon might be clinically useful to help early recovery and decrease the incidence of ocular complications of AEK.
Absorption ; Drug-Related Side Effects and Adverse Reactions ; Humans* ; Incidence ; Interferon-alpha* ; Keratitis ; Keratoconjunctivitis* ; Ophthalmic Solutions

Adult ; Female ; Hepatitis B, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Nephrotic Syndrome ; etiology

Previous reported ocular complications of interferon alfa administration are extremely rare. These include oculomotor palsy, corneal allograft rejection, retinal hemorrhage and cotton wool patches. A 15-year-old boy with chronic hepatitis B was treated with interferon alpha for six months, and then developed glaucoma. After the interferon therapy had been discontinued the glaucoma improved. Accordingly, we report a case of glaucoma development during the course of interferon alpha therapy for chronic hepatitis B.
Adolescence ; Case Report ; Glaucoma/chemically induced* ; Hepatitis B, Chronic/drug therapy* ; Human ; Interferon-alpha/adverse effects* ; Male

Oromucosal cytokine therapy allows large amounts of cytokines to be administered with improved outcome and without dose limiting toxicity. Orally administered cytokines exert their effects by a novel two pronged mechanism of action. Firstly, specific populations of immuno-competent effector cells are activated in the oral cavity and migrate to the site of virus replication. Secondly, chemokines produced in the lymphoid tissue of the oral cavity enter the peripheral circulation and redirect activated lymphocytes to eliminate virus infected cells. Oromucosal IFN therapy constitutes an alternative and improved means of therapy for diseases such as chronic viral hepatitis which are currently treated parenterally with IFN alpha. The oral route also has obvious advantages for ease of administration and improved patient compliance. Furthermore, the availability of a well tolerated form of IFN therapy will also allow Type I IFNs to be used for the treatment of diseases such as upper respiratory tract virus infections, for which parenteral IFN therapy is currently precluded due to unacceptable toxicity.
Administration, Oral ; Animals ; Antineoplastic Agents/administration & dosage ; Antiviral Agents/*administration & dosage/adverse effects/pharmacology ; Hepatitis, Viral, Human/drug therapy ; Human ; Interferon-alpha/*administration & dosage/adverse effects/pharmacology

Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Female ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; complications ; drug therapy ; psychology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Mental Disorders ; complications ; Middle Aged

Adult ; Antiviral Agents ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Hearing Disorders ; chemically induced ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Middle Aged ; Recombinant Proteins ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use ; Ribavirin ; adverse effects ; therapeutic use

AIMTo determine whether bombesin prevents IFN-alpha-induced fever and it's possible mechanism.

METHODSEffects of BN on changes in body temperature and arginine vasopressin(AVP) content in the ventral septal area(VSA) and hypothalamus were measured in the rats following intracerebroventricular (ICV) injection of IFN-alpha.

RESULTS(1) IFN-alpha produced a dose-dependent rise in colonic temperature simultaneously with increase in AVP content in the VSA in the rats. (2) BN produced a dose-dependent hypothermia and significantly elevated AVP content in the VSA in rats. (3) BN injected intracerebroventricularly at 30 min after IFN-alpha prevented the increase in colonic temperature which recovered to the control level as well as AVP content in the VSA in rats at 150 min.

CONCLUSIONAVP in the VSA may play a role in IFN-alpha-induced fever. AVP in the VSA may play a partial role in the BN antipyretic action and hypothermic action.

Animals ; Arginine Vasopressin ; metabolism ; Body Temperature Regulation ; drug effects ; Bombesin ; pharmacology ; Brain ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Fever ; chemically induced ; physiopathology ; Interferon-alpha ; adverse effects ; Male ; Rats ; Rats, Wistar

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The effectiveness of combination therapy with conventional or pegylated interferon alpha and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C is well understood. However, the profound investigation about complications of the treatment has been rarely reported in Korea, where patients have broader spectrum of disease manifestations. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effectiveness and complications of the combination therapy of interferon alpha and ribavirin in patients with chronic hepatitis C. METHODS: Two hundred and forty patients with chronic hepatitis C were included. All patients were treated with interferon alpha (3 million units thrice a week) in combination with ribavirin (800-1,200 mg, depending on body weight). Patients were treated for 6 or 12 months according to the genotypes (genotype 1; 12 months, non-1; 6 months). We retrospectively evaluated ETR (end of treatment response) and SVR (sustained virologic response) on the basis of intent-to-treat in patients completing the therapy. RESULTS: In 154 patients who had completed the therapy, ETR was 79.2% and SVR was 61.0%. Multivariate analysis showed that genotype and early virologic response at 3 months of treatment were indepedent predictive factors of SVR. Due to insufficient response, 11.3% of the patients discontinued the therapy. In addition, 24.5% of the patients prematurely discontinued the therapy due to adverse events including aggravated liver function (15.4%), failure to return (7.9%), and others (1.2%). Dose modifications of interferon alpha or ribavirin were required due to anemia (15.4%), neutropenia (8.8%), or thrombocytopenia (4.6%). CONCLUSIONS: The overall SVR of patients who had completed the combination therapy with interferon alpha and ribavirin was 61.0%. However, about one third of the patients discontinued the therapy prematurely due to insufficient response, adverse events and/or noncompliance.
Adult ; Aged ; Antiviral Agents/*adverse effects/therapeutic use ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Female ; Genotype ; Hepacivirus/*drug effects/genetics ; Hepatitis C, Chronic/*drug therapy/virology ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha/administration & dosage/*adverse effects ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Ribavirin/administration & dosage/*adverse effects

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of formaldehyde exposure on the expression of inflammatory cytokines in human bronchial epithelial cells (16HBE cells).

METHODS16HBE cells were treated with formaldehyde with a concentration of 0, 0.04, 0.08, 0.16, 0.32, or 0.64 mmol/L for 24 hours, and MTT assay was applied to measure proliferative activity and calculate median lethal dose; 16HBE cells were exposed to formaldehyde with a concentration of 0, 0.04, 0.16, 0.64, or 1.20 mmol/L for 4 hours, MTT assay was applied to measure proliferative activity, and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay was applied to measure the levels of Th1, Th2, and Th17 cytokines and tumor necrosis factor &alpha;(TNF-&alpha;) in cell supernatant.

RESULTSCompared with the control group, the 0.32-and 0.64-mmol/L exposure groups had significant decreases in cell viability (P<0.05); all exposure groups had reductions in interleukin(IL)-2 and IL-12, but no significant changes in interferon-γ and IL-10. In the 1.20-mmol/L exposure group, there was an increase in IL-4, with the increasing exposure dose, IL-5 and IL-6 tended to increase first and then decrease, and there was no significant change in IL-13; with the increasing exposure dose, IL-8 tended to increase first and then decrease, and there was no significant change in IL-17. In all the exposure groups, TNF-&alpha; increased and tended to increase significantly with the increasing exposure dose(P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONFormaldehyde exposure can cause imbalance between Th1 and Th2 cytokines secreted by 16HBE cells, as well as increased expression of IL-8 and TNF-&alpha;.

Cells, Cultured ; Cytokines ; metabolism ; Epithelial Cells ; drug effects ; metabolism ; Formaldehyde ; adverse effects ; Humans ; Interferon-gamma ; metabolism ; Interleukins ; metabolism ; Tumor Necrosis Factor-alpha ; metabolism

Antiviral Agents ; administration & dosage ; Drug Therapy, Combination ; Hepacivirus ; drug effects ; genetics ; Hepatitis C, Chronic ; drug therapy ; Humans ; Interferon-alpha ; administration & dosage ; adverse effects ; Ribavirin ; administration & dosage ; Treatment Outcome