Widespread distribution of highly pathogenic avian H5N1 influenza viruses in domesticated and wild birds continues to pose a threat to public health, as interspecies transmission of virus has resulted in increasing numbers of human disease cases. Although the pathogenic mechanism(s) of H5N1 influenza viruses has not been fully elucidated, it has been suggested that the ability to evade host inn...

With little improvement in the poor prognosis for humans with high-grade glioma brain tumors, alternative therapeutic strategies are needed. As such, selective replication-competent oncolytic viruses may be useful as a potential treatment modality. Here we test the hypothesis that defects in the interferon (IFN) pathway could be exploited to enhance the selective oncolytic profile of vesicular ...

Shigella flexneri, the causative agent of bacillary dysentery, has the ability to enter nonphagocytic cells. The interferon (IFN) family of cytokines was found to inhibit Shigella invasion of cultured epithelial cells. We show here that IFN-alpha inhibits a Src-dependent signaling cascade triggered by Shigella that leads to the reorganization of the host cell cytoskeleton. Immunofluorescence st...

Treatment of chronic hepatitis C with interferon alpha (IFN-alpha) is relatively contraindicated in patients with psychiatric disorders because of possible severe psychiatric side effects. We report on a case of a female patient with a chronic schizoaffective psychosis, who was treated for 3 months with 3 x 3 mio IE IFN-alpha s.c./week because of a chronic hepatitis C (genotype 1b). Psychosis w...

Patients with hemophilia are at risk for the development of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS). Patients with AIDS have recurrent infections and/or malignancy and altered immune response, including decreased T lymphocyte counts, decreased T helper lymphocytes, defective T cell blastogenesis, hypergammaglobulinemia, defective natural killer (NK) activity and impaired response of NK to int...

Activation of cytosolic phospholipase A(2 )(cPLA(2)) is a prerequisite for the formation of the transcription factor complex interferon-stimulated gene factor 3 (ISGF3) in response to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha). Here we show that p38 mitogen-activated protein kinase (MAPK), an activator of cPLA(2), is essential for both IFN-alpha and IFN-gamma signalling. SB203580, a specific inhibitor of p38...

The incidence of type 1 diabetes has been rapidly rising. Environmental factors such as viruses have been implicated as a possible agent accounting for this rise. Enteroviruses have recently been the focus in many research studies as a potential agent in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. The mechanism of viral infection leading to beta cell destruction not only involves multiple pathways but...

One hundred and twelve fibromyalgia syndrome (FMS) patients were randomized into one of four demographically similar groups (n = 28/group). Sequential primary FMS patient volunteers were to receive daily sublingual placebo or interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) at 15, 50, or 150 IU. After a screening evaluation, analgesic or sedative hypnotic medications were withdrawn. Two weeks later, daily IFN-alph...

Nonsensitized human and mouse lymphocytes produce interferon (IFN)-alpha and IFN-alpha/beta, respectively, in response to most transformed cells, as well as normal xenogeneic cells. The treatment of transformed human (WISH) and mouse (L) or normal mouse embryo (ME) cells with trypsin, pepsin, or neuraminidase resulted in a loss of the cell's ability to induce IFN-alpha or alpha/beta. These find...

The induction of alpha/beta interferon (IFN-alpha/beta) is a powerful host defense mechanism against viral infection, and many viruses have evolved strategies to overcome the antiviral effects of IFN. In this study, we found that IFN-alpha had only some degree of antiviral activity against Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) infection, in contrast to another flavivirus, dengue virus serotype 2, w...