Neutralizing antibodies to interferon-alpha: relative frequency in patients treated with different interferon preparations

Abstract

The frequencies of antibody development so far reported in patients treated with different interferons (IFNs) are not readily comparable because of differences in treatment regimens and assay methods. Thus the frequency of neutralizing antibody development was analyzed in a large sample of sera derived from a relatively homogeneous group of patients treated with different IFN-alpha preparations. The frequency of developing neutralizing antibody to IFN varied according to the IFN given. Particularly, the seroconversion frequency was significantly higher in patients treated with recombinant IFN-alpha 2a (20.2%) than in patients treated with either recombinant IFN-alpha 2b (6.9%) or IFN-alpha N1 (1.2%), a lymphoblastoid IFN-alpha. Furthermore, sera obtained from patients treated with either recombinant IFN neutralized both types of recombinant IFNs but failed to neutralize IFN-alpha N1.