title: Interferon-β therapy prolongs survival in rhesus macaque models of Ebola and Marburg hemorrhagic fever.
abstract: 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 complex, both quantitative and qualitative differences in biological activity are observed after stimulation of the receptor complex with different type I IFNs. Taken together, this suggested potential for IFN-β therapy in filovirus infection. Here we show that early postexposure treatment with IFN-β significantly increased survival time of rhesus macaques infected with a lethal dose of Ebola virus, although it failed to alter mortality. Early treatment with IFN-β also significantly increased survival time after Marburg virus infection. IFN-β may have promise as an adjunctive postexposure therapy in filovirus infection.
authors.affiliation: Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.
authors.forename: Lauren M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Smith
authors.forename: Lisa E
authors.initials: LE
authors.lastname: Hensley
authors.forename: Thomas W
authors.initials: TW
authors.lastname: Geisbert
authors.forename: Joshua
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Johnson
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Stossel
authors.forename: Anna
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Honko
authors.forename: Judy Y
authors.initials: JY
authors.lastname: Yen
authors.forename: Joan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Geisbert
authors.forename: Jason
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Paragas
authors.forename: Elizabeth
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Fritz
authors.forename: Gene
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Olinger
authors.forename: Howard A
authors.initials: HA
authors.lastname: Young
authors.forename: Kathleen H
authors.initials: KH
authors.lastname: Rubins
authors.forename: Christopher L
authors.initials: CL
authors.lastname: Karp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D029043:Ebolavirus / Q000187:drug effects; D005260:Female; D019142:Hemorrhagic Fever, Ebola / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D006801:Humans; D016899:Interferon-beta / Q000494:pharmacology*; D008253:Macaca mulatta; D008297:Male; D008379:Marburg Virus Disease / Q000188:drug therapy* / Q000821:virology; D029024:Marburgvirus / Q000187:drug effects*; D011994:Recombinant Proteins / Q000494:pharmacology
chemical_list: D011994:Recombinant Proteins; D016899:Interferon-beta