introduction patients with hepatitis c are commonly treated with combination of pegylated interferon alfa-2a and ribavirin. less than 1% of patients receiving this treatment experience very uncommon ophthalmological side effects such as optic neuropathy and vision disorder, which are usually subclinical, mild and reversible, not requiring the withdrawal of the treatment. retinopathy is the most...

In contrast to serial injections of recombinant interferon-beta (IFN-beta) for long-term therapy of multiple sclerosis (MS), prolonged systemic delivery of proteins derived through in vivo gene transfer may provide a more clinically relevant alternative. Here we compare the therapeutic efficacies of electroporation (EP)-mediated intramuscular IFN-beta gene transfer with repeated alternate-day i...

Interferon-gamma is produced by immune cells before MS exacerbations, and exogenous IFN-gamma treatment causes MS attacks. IFN-beta production, conversely, rises after exacerbations. IFN-beta therapy ameliorates MS, possibly by lowering IFN-gamma secretion and inhibiting responses to IFN-gamma. IFN-gamma effects are regulated by IFN-gamma receptor (IFNGR) expression. IFN-gamma is pro-inflammato...

The human T-cell lymphotropic virus type 1 (HTLV-1) is the known causative agent of a chronic neurologic condition known as HTLV-1-associated myelopathy/tropical spastic paraparesis (HAM/TSP). Although several therapies have been evaluated for HAM/TSP, none have been approved for use in humans. In this paper, we describe a 55-year-old female patient with HAM/TSP who was treated with interferon ...

BACKGROUND Alemtuzumab, a humanized monoclonal antibody that targets CD52 on lymphocytes and monocytes, may be an effective treatment for early multiple sclerosis. METHODS In this phase 2, randomized, blinded trial involving previously untreated, early, relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, we assigned 334 patients with scores of 3.0 or less on the Expanded Disability Status Scale and a dis...

background polymorphisms in the interferon λ (inf λ) genes on chromosome 19 have been associated with clearance of hepatitis c virus (hcv) induced by interferon and ribavirin therapy however there is no such data available for pakistani patients with hcv infection. objectives in this study, the effects of single nucleotide polymorphisms (snps) have been investigated in response to treatment wit...

BACKGROUND African Americans (AAs) with multiple sclerosis (MS) seem to have a more severe disease course than white Americans (WAs). To our knowledge, it is not known to what extent treatment with interferon beta-1a will effect the MS disease course within the AA population. OBJECTIVE To compare the response to treatment with interferon beta-1a between AA and WA MS patients. DESIGN This is...