Production of human alpha- and gamma-interferon is dependent on age and sex and is decreased in rheumatoid arthritis: a simple method for a large-scale assay.

We examined host ability to produce alpha- and gamma-interferon on a large scale by culturing 2 ml of peripheral blood for 20 hr with Sendai virus or concanavalin A as inducer of alpha- or gamma-interferon, respectively. Production of gamma- but not alpha-interferon was lower in females (n = 351) than in males (n = 531) (P less than 0.001). Both alpha- and gamma-interferon production declined gradually with ageing. The production of alpha-interferon (3,233 +/- 1,773 IU/ml) and gamma-interferon (19 +/- 20 IU/ml) in rheumatoid arthritis patients was significantly lower than the values found in total and age-matched healthy donors (P less than 0.01). These results suggest that interferon production is dependent on age and sex and is significantly lower in patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

[Interferon-producing capacity in patients with prostate cancer: prognosis value]. / Capacité de production de l'interféron chez les patients porteurs d'un cancer de la prostate: valeur pronostique.

The interferon (IFN)-alpha and -gamma producing capacities were measured in 47 patients with prostatic cancer by the whole blood method. The mean IFN-alpha producing capacity in prostatic cancer patients was 3,657 IU/ml, which indicated a significantly (P less than 0.005) lower value than that in healthy male control aged 50 years or more (mean value, 4,988 IU/ml), while the IFN-gamma producing capacity was almost normal. The IFN-alpha and -gamma producing capacities in patients with stage D disease was decreased as compared with that in patients with stage A, B or C. The higher the grade of the diseases, the lower the IFN producing capacity tended to be. In patients with prostatic cancer, the prognosis was worse in low IFN producing capacity group than in normal or high IFN producing capacity group. These results suggest that the measurement of IFN producing capacity is useful for the estimation of the prognosis of patients with prostatic cancer, and that the IFN producing capacity may be a factor which decides the prognosis.

[The effect of stress on interferon production in mice]. / Effet du stress sur la production de l'interféron chez la souris.

In order to study the effect of stress on the interferon (IFN) production, we determined the IFN-alpha/beta and -gamma producing capacities in restraint-stressed and SART-stressed mice. Restraint-stress caused not only a significant reduction in body weight, but also a reduction in the weight of spleen. The IFN-alpha/beta producing capacity by Newcastle disease virus (NDV) was significantly lower in the stressed mice. The IFN-gamma producing capacity by both Con-A and PHA-P was also depressed by this stress. On the other hand, SART-stress, whose severity was thought to be mild because no loss of body and spleen weights was seen, did not affect IFN-alpha/beta and -gamma producing capacities. These results suggest that the suppression of IFN producing capacity is dependent on the severity of physical stress.