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. 1992 Oct;90(1):85–87. doi: 10.1111/j.1365-2249.1992.tb05836.x

Absence of circulating interferon in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Suggestion against an autoimmune etiology.

M R Capobianchi 1, S Fais 1, M C Di Paolo 1, D Agostini 1, P Paoluzi 1, F Pallone 1, F Dianzani 1
PMCID: PMC1554556  PMID: 1382905

Abstract

Whether inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can be classified as autoimmune disorders is not established. Since circulating acid-labile interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is believed to reflect autoimmune reactions, we tested sera from two groups of IBD patients for the presence of circulating IFN. No detectable IFN was found in 51 serum samples of IBD patients. Furthermore, in no serum sample of IBD patients were neutralizing anti-IFN antibodies found. In contrast, acid-labile IFN-alpha was present in sera from 21/52 HIV-infected and from 6/14 systemic lupus erythematosus patients. These observations provide evidence that IBD differs from systemic autoimmune disorders, at least for the presence of circulating IFN.

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Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

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