Recombinant interferon-alpha 2 inhibits HIV replication in chronically infected promonocytic cells.

Promonocytic cells U937 with previously established HIV-1 persistent infection, were treated with increasing doses of the recombinant INF-alpha 2. This resulted in a significant decrease of virion-associated reverse transcriptase levels in medium of the cultures studied, most pronounced by the highest interferon doses, but depending on this cytokine presence. In spite of the marked restrictive effect of the interferon on the infectious virus production the synthesis, of viral structural proteins by the U937 cells, as detected by immunofluorescence, was not affected. The therapeutic index of interferon was considerably high.