[Pharmacokinetics and pharmacological aspects of interferons].
It has been well established that interferon (IFN) has a variety of biological activities. It was originally discovered as an antiviral agent, but later its antitumor action was clearly demonstrated in many laboratories. Systemic treatment with IFN has been used in various experimental animals in order to determine its prophylactic or curative potential against virus infection and cancer. Clinical application of IFN is now making progress and increasingly being performed in human patients. Therefore, it would be valuable if data on the tissue distribution, decay rate and metabolism of the injected material were available. However, until now researchers have been appeared to be reluctant to extensively explore this area. The toxicology of IFN is rather unexplored field compared to pharmacokinetics. IFN was initially advocated as a natural non-toxic antiviral substance. Many biological effects have been reported in experimental animals treated with IFN. Whether the side effects are due to the IFN molecule itself or to certain impurities present in the IFN preparation is a matter of conjecture. In this paper, the pharmacokinetics behavior, biological effects and toxicology of mouse and human IFN are reviewed.
D000818:Animals; D001835:Body Weight; D003602:Cytotoxicity, Immunologic; D006801:Humans; D007273:Injections, Intramuscular; D007275:Injections, Intravenous; D007370:Interferon Type I / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007371:Interferon-gamma / Q000378:metabolism / Q000494:pharmacology*; D007694:Killer Cells, Natural / Q000276:immunology; D007700:Kinetics; D051379:Mice; D008809:Mice, Inbred C3H; D008810:Mice, Inbred C57BL; D009374:Neoplasms, Experimental / Q000276:immunology / Q000378:metabolism / Q000473:pathology; D011817:Rabbits; D014018:Tissue Distribution
D007370:Interferon Type I; D007371:Interferon-gamma