The introduction of ribavirin to hepatitis C combination therapy with pegylated interferon (PEG-IFN)-α2a has improved sustained responses, but it has been accompanied by an increased incidence of cutaneous side effects. Most cases of drug eruption caused by ribavirin and PEG-IFN-α2 or IFN-α combination therapy were not severe and we progressed without discontinuation of the antiviral treatment....

PURPOSE To investigate the effect of periodontal initial therapy on circulating blood serum interferon-gamma (IFN-gamma) and interleukin-4 (IL-4) in patients with chronic periodontitis. METHODS 15 patients with chronic periodontitis and 15 healthy people were selected. Circulating blood serum IFN-gamma and IL-4 were measured using double antibody sandwich ELISA; Student's t test was used for ...

Hepatitis C virus (HCV)-specific, HLA class I-restricted, CD8-positive (CD8+) T lymphocytes are thought to contribute to viral clearance as well as liver disease in chronic hepatitis C. For the patients who do not respond to interferon (IFN) therapy, phlebotomy can be used as a tool to reduce inflammation and lower transaminase levels; however, the immunological aspects have not been clearly de...

nificant lengthening of PFS was the result of IFN maintenance therapy, as already reported.10 Our experience, although limited, confirms the efficacy of purine analogs as second line therapy. In agreement with Rai et al.8 the very high projected survival probability of our series can be explained mainly by a two step therapeutic strategy made up of IFN first line therapy and purine analog salva...

Nowadays, patients with chronic hepatitis C in all countries are generally treated with interferon (IFN), and more than 50% of patients become HCV-RNA negative following PEG-IFN plus ribavirin therapy, but unfortunately, the IFN therapy is not effective in about 70% of patients with HCV-associated LC. In Japan, HCC actually develops in about 7% of those patients every year. A strategy for preve...

There is a clear need for novel, effective therapeutic approaches to hemorrhagic fever due to filoviruses. Ebola virus hemorrhagic fever is associated with robust interferon (IFN)-α production, with plasma concentrations of IFN-α that greatly (60- to 100-fold) exceed those seen in other viral infections, but little IFN-β production. While all of the type I IFNs signal through the same receptor ...

Bevacizumab (10 mg/kg every 2 weeks), in combination with interferon alpha-2a (IFN), is an effective option for first-line therapy for advanced and/or metastatic renal cell carcinoma (RCC). Two phase III trials clearly show significant improvements in progression-free survival and response rate in patients with treatment-naïve metastatic RCC receiving bevacizumab combined with IFN compared with...

In 10 patients with previously untreated essential thrombocythemia (ET), by using "'In-labeled platelets and megakaryocyte morphometry, the relation between platelet production rate and bone marrow megakaryocytes was evaluated before and during a-2b-interferon (IFN) therapy. A highly significant decrease in platelet count occurred during IFN therapy; the platelet counts, at baseline and after 2...

Interferon-β (IFN-β) has been widely used in cancer therapy, but the clinical trial results are generally disappointing. Our previous studies have shown that an oncolytic adenovirus carrying IFN-β (ZD55-IFN-β) exhibits significant anti-tumor activities. However, the underlying mechanisms are not clear. Here we showed that ZD55-IFN-β infection-induced S-phase cell cycle arrest in a p53-dependent...

Interferon alfa (IFN-alpha) is the primary treatment for chronic hepatitis B. The standard duration of IFN-alpha therapy is considered 16 weeks; however, the optimal treatment length is still poorly defined. We evaluated the efficacy and acceptability of prolonged IFN-alpha treatment in patients with chronic hepatitis B. To investigate whether treatment prolongation could enhance the rate of he...