Synonyms
IFN
Introduction
The name interferon comes from the Latin word interferre and means to interfere. It thus refers to the important role that interferons play in the body’s immune system. Interferons are proteins; they consist of less than 200 amino acids.
They are an important component of the humoral (non-cellular) endogenous immune defense and are secreted by various cells – mainly white blood cells (leukocytes) but also tissue cells (fibroblasts) – and serve for regulation and communication. There are three major groups of interferons, using three letters from the Greek alphabet: Interferon alpha (IFN-α), interferon beta (IFN-β) and interferon gamma (IFN-γ). The interferons have an antiviral, antiproliferative and immunomodulatory effect in common, i.e. they act against viruses, inhibit cell growth, which plays an outstanding role in tumor therapy, for example, and have a regulating effect on the immune system. (without claim to completeness)
- Interferon alphaRoferon ®Intron ®Inferax ®Pegasys ®PegIntron ®
- Interferon betaAvonex ®Rebif ®Betaferon ®Fiblaferon ®
- Interferon gammaPolyferon ®Imukin ®
ApplicationIndication
Interferon alpha is used to treat some tumor diseases, such as hairy cell leukemia, chronic myeloid leukemia (CML), Kaposi’s sarcoma, malignant melanoma and some non-Hodgkin’s lymphomas (NHL). It is also used for the treatment of myeloproliferative diseases (MPS) such as polycythaemia vera and osteomyelofibrosis as it inhibits cell growth and is able to normalize the excessive cell turnover in MPS. It is also used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B and acute and chronic hepatitis C. The pegylated version of interferon alpha (peg-interferon) is bound to polyethylene glycol and thus has a significantly longer half-life, meaning that it needs to be administered less frequently (approximately 1x/week) than non-pegylated interferon alpha (approximately 3x/week).
Interferon beta is used for the treatment of multiple sclerosis (MS) as a basic therapeutic agent in the context of relapse prophylaxis, i.e. not to rapidly alleviate an acute relapse, but to reduce the frequency and intensity of relapses in the longer term. The therapeutic effect only becomes apparent after several months. Interferon gamma has so far found little use in clinical therapy.
