Interferon alfa

Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
Interferon alfa
Clinical data
AHFS/Drugs.comInternational Drug Names
Routes of
administration		Subcutaneous,[1] intramuscular[2]
ATC code
Identifiers
DrugBank
ChemSpider
  • none
 ☒NcheckY (what is this?)  (verify)

Interferon alfa (

endogenous
counterpart, the product's International nonproprietary name (INN) is interferon alfa (the spelling of 'alfa' with 'f' reflects INN naming conventions).

Interferon alfa is used in a variety of treatments, including certain forms of

injection under the skin.[1]

Adverse Effects

Common side effects (≥10% of people) include: increased risk of infection due to drop in white blood cells; difficulty sleeping; mood changes including irritability, excitement, restlessness, or depression; headaches and dizziness; dry mouth; blurred vision; feeling or being sick; abdominal pain; diarrhoea; sore mouth; taste changes; hair loss; sweating; joint and/or muscle pain; injection site reactions, fatigue, flu-like symptoms; loss of appetite and weight loss.[1]

The US

black box warning
regarding the potential for "caus[ing] or aggravat[ing] fatal or life-threatening neuropsychiatric, autoimmune, ischemic, and infectious disorders."[2]

Composition

Interferon alfa contains a mixture of several

subcutaneous injection
therapy.

Pharmacology

IFN-α8 enhances the proliferation of human

NK cells
. The subtypes α10 and α2, along with α8, are the most efficient and powerful NK cell activators. Subtypes α21 and α2 enhance the expression of IFN-gamma-inducible protein-10 (IP-10) in dendritic cells. Activated dendritic cells initiate immune responses and induce the expression of IP-10, a chemokine which promotes a Th1 inflammatory response.

IFN-α1 causes increased

antiviral activity, does not induce B cell proliferation, and does not enhance HLA-I or tumor antigen expression. Despite its apparent inactivity, it is still used clinically in the treatment of metastatic renal cell carcinoma, with a reported lower toxicity than the recombinant
IFN-α2. Overall, IFN-α has a general inflammatory action which skews the immune response towards a Th1 profile.

Subtype α2 increases the expression of HLA-I molecules, which correlates with IFN-α-mediated activation of

memory CD8 cells and increased cytolytic action against virally infected cells and tumor cells (via cytotoxic CD8 cells
).

References

  1. ^ a b c "Interferon alfa | Cancer information | Cancer Research UK". www.cancerresearchuk.org. Archived from the original on 18 May 2021. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  2. ^ a b "PRODUCT INFORMATION INTRON A Interferon alfa-2b, recombinant For Injection" (PDF). US Food and Drug Administration. Retrieved 1 April 2024.
  3. PMID 9274677
    .
  4. S2CID 31113832
    .
  5. ^ "Interferon alfa - Drug Information - Chemocare". chemocare.com. Archived from the original on 2023-04-21. Retrieved 2021-10-17.
  6. PMID 31643203
    , retrieved 2021-10-17
Retrieved from "https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Interferon_alfa&oldid=1281236188"