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Updated: Mar 18, 2026
Development and Validation of an Ultrasensitive Single Molecule Array Digital Enzyme-linked Immunosorbent Assay for Human Interferon-α
Published on: June 14, 2018
Interferon α kinoid induces neutralizing anti-interferon α antibodies that decrease the expression of
Julie Ducreux1, Frédéric A Houssiau2, Pierre Vandepapelière3
1Institut de Recherche Expérimentale et Clinique, Pôle de pathologies rhumatismales inflammatoires et systémiques, Université catholique de Louvain.
Objective:
IFN α Kinoid (IFN-K) is a therapeutic vaccine composed of IFNα2b coupled to a carrier protein. In a phase I/II placebo-controlled trial, we observed that IFN-K significantly decreases the IFN gene signature in whole blood RNA samples from SLE patients. Here, we analysed extended follow-up data from IFN-K-treated patients, in order to evaluate persistence of neutralizing anti-IFNα Abs antibodies (Abs), and gene expression profiling.
Methods:
Serum and whole blood RNA samples were obtained in IFN-K-treated patients included in the follow-up study, in order to determine binding and neutralizing anti-IFNα Ab titres, and perform high-throughput transcriptomic studies.
Results:
Neutralization studies of 13 IFNα subtypes demonstrated the polyclonal nature of the Ab response induced by IFN-K. Follow-up analyses in six patients confirmed a significant correlation between neutralizing anti-IFNα Ab titres and decrease in IFN scores compared to baseline. These analyses also revealed an inhibitory effect of IFNα blockade on the expression of B cell associated transcripts.
Conclusions:
IFN-K induces a polyclonal anti-IFNα response that decreases IFN- and B cell-associated transcripts.
Trial Registration:
ClinicalTrials.gov, clinicaltrials.gov, NCT01058343.
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