Antitumor, antiviral and natural killer-inducing activities of human recombinant interferon-alpha in the guinea pig.

It was found that human recombinant interferon-alpha (Hu rIFN-alpha) was biologically active in the guinea pig. Namely, intratumor injection of either Hu rIFN-alpha A or A/D regressed tumors and prevented metastasis of guinea-pig line 10 tumor. These rIFNs augmented splenic natural killer activity of the guinea pig and reduced the cytopathic effect of virus on guinea-pig cells. Hu IFN-gamma showed no such activity.