Activity of Human Recombinant and Lymphoblastoid Interferons in Human and Heterologous Cell Lines

Abstract

Three human alpha interferon (HuIFN-α) preparations currently being used in clinical trials, rIFN-αA, rIFN-α2, and lymphoblastoid IFN (LYM-IFN) had appreciable activity against encephalomyocarditis and vesicular stomatitis viruses (VSV) in guinea pig transformed and guinea pig embryo cells, but not mouse L or rabbit kidney cells. The level of activity in guinea pig cells, compared with human WISH cells, was 182% (range 9%1,900%). These results suggest that the guinea pig may be useful for testing the antiviral, anticancer, or immunomodulatory activity of Hu α IFNs in vivo.