Interferon alters the composition and metabolism of lipids in the liver of suckling mice.

Daily injection of suckling Swiss, C3H, and C57BL/6 mice with potent preparations of mouse interferon (IFN) alpha/beta resulted in a decrease in phospholipids and a decrease in the phospholipid-to-protein ratio in the liver. This decrease in polar lipids was accompanied by a marked accumulation of triglycerides without a pronounced change in free cholesterol. In contrast, a similar IFN treatment of adult mice did not change the content of liver phospholipids, although there was an increase in liver triglycerides. In suckling mice, after 10 days of IFN administration there was a marked decrease in the incorporation of 1(3)-[3H]glycerol into liver phospholipids, which was not observed in IFN-treated adult mice. Our findings suggest that IFN treatment results in the inhibition of some component of the system of phospholipid biosynthesis during the maturation of hepatocytes in suckling mice.