ABSTRACT
To explore the endogenous interferon levels in patients of Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF) with different clinical evolution of the disease, 29 fatal and 33 surviving cases of AHF were analyzed. As previously reported, the titers of endogenous alpha-IFN in patients with AHF are very high, generally between 2,000 and 64,000 IU/ml. Thus far, these are the highest levels of circulating interferon detected in any human viral disease. In this study it was found that during the second week of evolution the titers of interferon were significantly higher in fatal cases than in survivors. Therefore, very high levels of interferon have a prognostic value in AHF.
Subject(s)
Hemorrhagic Fever, American/immunology , Interferon Type I/blood , Follow-Up Studies , Hemorrhagic Fever, American/blood , Hemorrhagic Fever, American/mortality , Humans , Interferon Type I/biosynthesis , KineticsABSTRACT
The induction of endogenous interferon (IFN) was studied in 28 cases of Argentine hemorrhagic fever (AHF), a severe systemic disease caused by Junin virus. Serum samples were taken daily during the acute period, both before and after administration of immune plasma. This form of treatment has been found to reduce mortality when given early in the course of AHF. High titers of circulating IFN were present in the serum samples taken before treatment. IFN titers drastically dropped after transfusion of immune plasma. The antiviral activity was stable at pH 2 and was completely neutralized only by antibodies against IFN-alpha. Thus, we concluded that circulating endogenous IFN in patients with AHF can be considered as typical IFN-alpha. Fever, chills, and backache were associated with the higher levels of IFN. An inverse correlation between days of evolution of the disease and IFN activity was also observed.
