Al-Wakeel J, Mitwalli A, Tarif N, Al-Mohaya S, Malik G, Khalil M
Division of Nephrology, King Khalid University Hospital, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
Am J Kidney Dis. 1999 Jun;33(6):1142-6. doi: 10.1016/s0272-6386(99)70153-8.
Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is a naturally occurring cytokine. It was the first cytokine used with clinical benefit in the treatment of viral hepatitis and malignancies. Patients with viral hepatitis B or C may have complications with glomerulonephritis (GN). Improvement in proteinuria with or without clearing of viral markers after IFN-alpha therapy has been reported. This encouraged us to offer IFN-alpha therapy to four patients with GN. These patients refused treatment with steroids and/or cyclophosphamide because of concerns about side effects. One patient with membranous GN and two patients with mesangial GN (MesGN) had a remission of nephrotic syndrome. In one patient with type II diabetes and MesGN, renal insufficiency and proteinuria did not subside; however, renal function remained stable. The mechanism of action of IFN-alpha is discussed, with its possible role in the treatment of primary GN.
α干扰素（IFN-α）是一种天然存在的细胞因子。它是首个用于治疗病毒性肝炎和恶性肿瘤且具有临床益处的细胞因子。乙型或丙型病毒性肝炎患者可能会并发肾小球肾炎（GN）。据报道，α干扰素治疗后蛋白尿有所改善，病毒标志物清除或未清除。这促使我们为4例GN患者提供α干扰素治疗。这些患者因担心副作用而拒绝使用类固醇和/或环磷酰胺治疗。1例膜性GN患者和2例系膜增生性肾小球肾炎（MesGN）患者的肾病综合征得到缓解。1例患有II型糖尿病和MesGN的患者，肾功能不全和蛋白尿并未消退；然而，肾功能保持稳定。本文讨论了α干扰素的作用机制及其在原发性GN治疗中的可能作用。
