Tilg H
Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, Department of Medicine, University Hospital Innsbruck, Austria.
Gastroenterology. 1997 Mar;112(3):1017-21. doi: 10.1053/gast.1997.v112.pm9041265.
Interferon (IFN)-alpha is the most frequently used cytokine in the treatment of diseases of the gastrointestinal tract. This cytokine has emerged as an important regulator of growth and differentiation, affecting cellular communication and immunologic control. The efficacy of IFN-alpha has been shown in many different diseases of viral, malignant, angiogenic, allergic, inflammatory, and fibrotic origin. Cytokines are pleiotropic molecules with a wide variety of biological functions on various cells and tissues, and several different cytokines exert similar and overlapping functions on certain cells. Originally described as an antiviral substance, the role of IFN-alpha as an immunoregulatory molecule has long been ignored. Recent data suggest that IFN-alpha is a multifunctional immunomodulatory cytokine with profound effects on the cytokine cascade including several anti-inflammatory properties. These newly identified immunoregulatory and anti-inflammatory functions may be of importance in the treatment of diseases such as chronic viral hepatitis and help to explain some of the IFN mechanisms.
干扰素（IFN）-α是治疗胃肠道疾病最常用的细胞因子。这种细胞因子已成为生长和分化的重要调节因子，影响细胞间通讯和免疫控制。IFN-α的疗效已在许多不同起源的疾病中得到证实，包括病毒、恶性、血管生成、过敏、炎症和纤维化疾病。细胞因子是多效性分子，对各种细胞和组织具有多种生物学功能，几种不同的细胞因子在某些细胞上发挥相似和重叠的功能。IFN-α最初被描述为一种抗病毒物质，其作为免疫调节分子的作用长期以来一直被忽视。最近的数据表明，IFN-α是一种多功能免疫调节细胞因子，对细胞因子级联反应有深远影响，包括多种抗炎特性。这些新发现的免疫调节和抗炎功能可能在治疗慢性病毒性肝炎等疾病中具有重要意义，并有助于解释IFN的一些作用机制。
