Interferon-alpha potentiates priming-dependent FMLP-induced neutrophil superoxide generation in a patient with...

A 13 year old girl diagnosed as having chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) was treated with interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) alone and 4 months later hematological remission was obtained. In the course of the IFN-alpha treatment there was neither infectious sign nor side effects. In this study we have examined the effect of IFN-alpha on superoxide O2- generation by polymorphonuclear neutrophils (PMN). The PMN of the patient generated less O2- than PMN from normal controls. When patient PMN were cultured in the presence of 1000 U/mL IFN-alpha, enhancement of the formyl-methionyl-leucyl-phenylalanine induced O2- generation following priming with tissue necrosis factor-alpha was observed. Over the course of the IFN-alpha therapy, such O2- generation was gradually restored. It is suggested that CML PMN are in the resting condition in terms of their ability to generate O2- and that IFN-alpha is effective in inducing O2- generation by CML PMN.