Australian research paves the way for improved interferon therapy
8 February 2001
New Australian research may pave the way for more successful use of interferon therapy in the treatment of hepatitis, multiple sclerosis (MS) and some forms of cancer.
The findings of scientists at Monash University’s Institute of Reproduction and Development have been published in the January 2001 issue of the medical journal Blood.
The scientists have discovered a soluble interferon receptor that offers a clue to increase understanding of how interferon therapy works in the body.
Interferon therapy is very effective on some patients but not on others and doctors have no reliable way of predicting who will respond to the therapy and who won’t. This is important because interferon therapy can have awful side effects, such as drowsiness, headache, vomiting and general 'flu-like symptoms.
‘Our discovery of the soluble receptor explains why interferons can have such different impacts on the body,' said the Institute’s Associate Professor Paul Hertzog.
‘We already know that high levels of soluble receptor molecules correlate with a poor response to interferon therapy,’ he said.
‘This could be a huge breakthrough because we may be able to measure patients’ levels of soluble receptor to identify those people who won’t respond to interferon therapy, thereby sparing them of the awful side effects of a treatment that is unlikely to work,’ he said.
Produced mainly by white blood cells, interferon acts at local sites of disease, or may travel around the body to act on other ‘target’ cells. Interferons have 3 main actions―attacking viruses, inhibiting tumour growth and stimulating the immune system.
So that the interferon has its desired effect on the target cell, it must get its message into that cell. The receptor helps get this message across by helping the interferon to attach to the target cell. Normally, this receptor is embedded in the surface of the cell.
However, the scientists at Monash discovered a second form of one of the interferon receptors―a soluble one.
The soluble receptor occurs in significant numbers, but rather than being attached to the target cell, the soluble receptor molecules float around the target cells and the researchers believe that they may act in mopping up excessive quantities of interferon.
This soluble receptor may also help in developing new ways to deliver interferon therapy with fewer side effects.
"For example, if the soluble receptor is carried around the bloodstream, we would find an alternative delivery method to injection, so that interferon can be applied to a very localised area.
'On the flip side, if we find the soluble receptor protects interferon while it travels around the bloodstream, we might administer the soluble receptor with the interferon therapy to protect it while it travels to the target cell. This could reduce the side effects.
‘Obviously we’ve got a lot of work ahead of us, but the discovery of the soluble receptor molecule makes us optimistic that interferon therapy will improve dramatically in the future,’ said Associate Professor Hertzog.
Last Reviewed: 08 February 2001
- 1. Blood 2001; 97: 473-482
