What is Interferon?
The protein interferon, produced by animal cells when they are invaded by viruses, is released into the bloodstream or intercellular fluid to induce healthy cells to manufacture an enzyme that counters the infection. Interferon is therefore considered a potential medical resource as a BIOPHARMACEUTICAL.
For many years the supply of human interferon for research was limited by costly extraction techniques. In 1980, however, the protein became available in greater quantities through GENETIC ENGINEERING.
Scientists also determined that the body makes three distinct types of interferon, each perhaps with several members. These classes were first called leukocyte, fibroplast, and immune interferon after their supposed production sites, but it is now known that each particular class is not, after all, made by a single cell type.
The classes are therefore now called, respectively, alpha, beta, and gamma interferon. Interferons were also first thought to be extremely species-specific, but it is now known that individual interferons may have different ranges of activity in other species.Alpha interferon has been approved for therapeutic use against hairy-cell LEUKEMIA and Hepatitis C. It has also been found effective against chronic hepatitis B, a major cause of liver cancer and cirrhosis, as well as for treatment of genital warts and some rarer cancers of blood and bone marrow. Nasal sprays containing alpha interferon provide some protection against colds caused by rhinoviruses.
Interferon is a copy of a protein found naturally in low levels in the human body. It was OK'd by (US) FDA Feb. 25, 1991, to treat hepatitis C. The product, alpha interferon, is the first effective treatment against this form of hepatitis, which affects an estimated 150,000 Americans each year.
According to the manufacturer's literature for using Interferon in the treatment of Hepatitis C: 3 million units per dose 3 times a week Interferon has an effective cure rate of about 25%
Besides hairy cell leukemia and hepatitis C, alpha interferon is licensed for treatment of AIDS-related Kaposi's sarcoma and genital warts. Schering-Plough Corporation of Kenilworth, N.J., which markets a version of the product under the trade name Intron-A, received approval for the product's use for hepatitis.
Treatment: Interferon has been approved for chronic HCV. Patients are selected for therapy on the basis of persistently abnormal liver function (blood) tests, rather than on the presence or absence of symptoms. It's not known what should be done for patients with mild chronic HCV infection; since some patients with mild disease can go on to develop cirrhosis, a trial of therapy with interferon is usually recommended. It's recommended that such patients be referred to specialists with knowledge in liver disease (gastroenterologist/hepatologists). -- "Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Viral Hepatitis", AMA
About half of patients treated with interferon respond, with better blood tests and better liver biopsies. Half the patients who respond relapse once the interferon is stopped. -- "Prevention, Diagnosis, and Management of Viral Hepatitis", AMA
Alpha interferon seems to work better the sooner it is used after infection. However, in many cases of hepatitis C the symptoms get worse again when the treatment is stopped. In one study, half of the chronic hepatitis C sufferers who had responded to alpha interferon had a relapse within six months after treatment stopped.
Thus only 25 percent of HCV patients respond favorably without relapsing.
The average six months of injections three times a week are expensive ($75 a week). Many patients also suffer side effects, such as flulike symptoms, a reduction in the number of disease fighting white blood cells, and a decreased number of platelets in the blood. (Platelets are needed for blood clotting.)
Factors most closely associated with response to IFN are:
1) absence of fibrosis or cirrhosis in the pretreatment liver biopsy;
2) HCV genotype other than 1;
3) lower RNA levels in the blood (e.g., less than 2 million/ml); and
4) shorter duration of infection (which often isn't known).
There is almost no cure against a chronic Hepatitis C. Most of the infected will get a cirrhosis or a liver- carcinoma sooner or later. That means, chances for a healing are at 0% if one does not get active!! Ask your doctor!! The Interferon- therapy gives the infected at least a chance of 20% that the virus will be killed, and helps on the other hand stabilizing the liver. I am no doctor or expert, I know little about that Interferon yet, but it seems to be the final natural viruskiller in every healthy human. This means it is not a treatment with chemotherapy, although its side- effects look alike.
. You've got a lot more brains floating around in public and private companies, as well as academic institutions. The only field where they have ever attracted top scientists is nuclear physics, because nobody else could offer the chance to play around with such cool toys 
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