Correspondence to: Dr S Iino, Institute of Medical Science, School of Medicine, St Marianna University, 2-16-11 Sugao, Miyamae-ku, Kawasaki City, Japan. Abstract One hundred and twenty six patients were enrolled in a study to assess the effect of different interferon alfa-2b treatment regimens on the rate ofincrease in alanine aminotransferase (ALT) activities after treatment. Results indicated...

BACKGROUND The EVIDENCE (Evidence of Interferon Dose-Response: European North American Comparative Efficacy) Study demonstrated that patients with multiple sclerosis (MS) who initiate interferon beta-1a therapy with 44 microg 3 times weekly (TIW) were less likely to have a relapse or activity on magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) compared with those who initiate therapy at a dosage of 30 microg 1...

Aspergillus and cytomegalovirus are major causes of morbidity/mortality after haploidentical hematopoietic transplantation. The high degree of mismatching makes cell immunotherapy impossible as it would result in lethal graft-versus-host disease (GvHD). We generated large numbers of donor T-cell clones specific for Aspergillus or cytomegalovirus antigens. We identified clones potentially respon...

Type I interferons are implicated in the pathogenesis of systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Type I interferon-inducible mRNAs are widely and concordantly overexpressed in the periphery and involved tissues of a subset of SLE patients, and provide utility as pharmacodynamic biomarkers to aid dose selection, as well as potential indicators of patients who might respond favorably to anti-IFNα the...

BACKGROUND High dose interferon induction treatment of hepatitis C viral infection blocks viral production over 95%. Since dose reduction is often performed due to clinical considerations, the effect of dose reduction on hepatitis C virus kinetics was studied. METHODS A new model that allowed longitudinal changes in the parameters of viral dynamics was used in a group of genotype-1 patients (...

Two lysosomotrophic drugs, neutral red and chloroquine, enhance polyinosinic:polycytidylic acid-induced interferon production by a strain of diploid human fibroblasts (FS-4). Treatment of cells with neutral red or chloroquine between 2.5 and 3.5 h after induction increases interferon yields 16- to 64- and 4- to 16-fold, respectively, in the subsequent 20.5 h. The two drugs inhibit the rates of ...

BACKGROUND The optimal treatment for hepatitis C patients unresponsive to interferon is unclear. High-dose induction interferon may enhance early viral clearance, whilst ribavirin reduces relapse; in combination, they may improve sustained virological response rates. AIM To compare the efficacy and safety of re-treatment with interferon induction, with or without ribavirin, in interferon non-...

OBJECTIVES This study aimed to compare the QTc interval between low and high dose methadone groups and evaluate the pattern of QTc variation. METHODS This is a prospective cohort study conducted from December 2010 till August 2011 at Malaysian University of Science's Hospital. Forty six subjects, grouped in high dose (>80mg) and low dose (<80mg) oral methadone, were followed-up at 4-weekly fo...