[Successful results in the interferon therapy of autoimmune disease in NZB/W strain mice]

The experiment used 50 female NZB/W mice divided into 2 groups of 25 animals each. Beginning at the age of 3 weeks and up to 1 year the animals of the experimental group were given once in 2 weeks 104 U/injection of mouse interferon intraperitoneally; the animals of the control group received physiological saline according to the same schedule. At the age of 3 months and subsequently at 6-week intervals up to 1 year mice of the two groups were examined for blood serum antibodies to native DNA and double-stranded RNA. The presence of p30 antigen of mouse leukemia virus in the spleen and blood serum was determined by the competitive radioimmunoassay in mice of both groups at the age of 3 months but not later because immune complexes with virus-specific antibodies appeared to be formed. The difference in the average longevity of the animals between the experimental (425 +/- 25.6 days) and control (315 +/- 15.1 days) groups is statistically highly significant. At the age of 3 months mice of the experimental group had significantly lower mean tires of antibody to DNA than in the control group (12.3 +/- 8.1 and 56.1 +/- 9.7, respectively), subsequently no significant differences in the titres were observed. Similar data were obtained with regard to antibodies to double-stranded RNA in the animals under 6 months of age. Morphological signs of development of lupus-nephritis in control mice appeared in histological studies earlier and were more marked than in the treated mice. It is concluded that the autoimmune disease in NZB/W mice was successfully treated with interferon.