Biological and clinical significance of neutralizing and binding antibodies to interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) during therapy for chronic hepatitis C.
It is known that IFN therapy can induce the development of anti-IFN antibodies. In order to evaluate the biological and clinical significance of both neutralizing (NA) and non-neutralizing (binding) antibodies, 123 patients with chronic hepatitis C treated with recombinant IFN-alpha were examined. Among them, 15 were positive for NA and 24 for binding antibodies. The kinetics of NA appearance show that, in general, they develop early during the first 3 months of treatment. Moreover, NA seem to be clinically relevant, since they may be responsible for non-responsiveness to treatment in 53% of patients who develop them. The evaluation of the clinical significance of binding antibodies is more difficult. They appear significantly earlier in non-responders than in responders, but no differences were observed in the overall percentage of seroconversion between responders and non-responders. Thus, it is not possible at the moment to establish their possible role in inducing non-responsiveness.
Istituto di Clinica Medica II-Università degli Studi di Bari, Italy.
G
G
Giannelli
G
G
Antonelli
G
G
Fera
S
S
Del Vecchio
E
E
Riva
C
C
Broccia
O
O
Schiraldi
F
F
Dianzani
D000410:Alanine Transaminase / Q000097:blood; D000906:Antibodies / Q000097:blood*; D001667:Binding, Competitive; D006526:Hepatitis C / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006521:Hepatitis, Chronic / Q000201:enzymology / Q000276:immunology* / Q000628:therapy*; D006801:Humans; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha / Q000009:adverse effects* / Q000276:immunology*; D007700:Kinetics; D009500:Neutralization Tests; D011994:Recombinant Proteins
D000906:Antibodies; D000077190:Interferon alpha-2; D016898:Interferon-alpha; D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D000410:Alanine Transaminase