Distribution of alpha interferon in serum and cerebrospinal fluid after systemic administration.

After intravenous infusion of recombinant leukocyte interferon (rIFN-alpha A) to four subjects with an indwelling reservoir, serial serum and cerebrospinal fluid samples were taken over 48 hr and were analyzed for interferon by an enzyme immunoassay method (ELISA). On separate occasions, 18 and 50 X 10(6) of rIFN-alpha A were infused over 10 min. Maximum serum concentrations of rIFN-alpha A ranged from 6720 to 11,000 pg/ml and from 32,900 to 43,400 pg/ml after the 18 and 50 X 10(6) U doses. There was no measurable concentration of rIFN-alpha A in the cerebrospinal fluid of subjects who received 18 X 10(6) U doses. In three of four subjects who received 50 X 10(6) U rIFN-alpha A, concentrations ranged from 17 to 70 pg/ml that were measurable no earlier than 1 hr after the start of the infusion and that in two cases were measurable throughout 24 hr.