5: Type I interferon increase the expression of Class I MHC complex Hepatology 1998; 28: 1680–6. In the body, it is thought to work by affecting cell function/growth and the body's natural defenses (immune system) in many ways. The key difference between interferon alpha 2A and 2B is that in interferon alpha 2A, the treatment does not depend on the weight of the person while the treatment of interferon alpha 2B depends on the weight of the person.. Interferons are proteins with the ability to recognize viruses and destroy them. Interferon Alfa-2b (Professional Patient Advice) - Drugs.com "Interferon: "It is a natural compound whose function is to create a mechanism of inhibition at the first level of the body's response" This medicine has been successfully used to treat outbreaks of dengue fever type 2 and hemorrhagic conjunctivitis in Latin America. Interferon can be made artificially and injected for some cancers and viral infections like hepatitis C. Studies indicate that many natural substances can activate the body's own production of interferon. •Boneset: a native American Indian herb with antiseptic, anti-viral properties used for the treatment of colds and flus, coughs, fevers, indigestion and pain. Interferons are “involved in alerting the cellular immune system to viral infection of host cells. The underlying mechanism behind the antineoplastic properties of interferon is not as well understood but is probably similar to the antiviral mechanism. The Wuhan coronavirus is believed to be closely related to the SARS coronavirus. One study at the University of Texas Medical Branch, Galveston, showed evidence of a direct anti-viral effect of Interferon alpha against novel Coronavirus in vitro. 183-189 Significant tumor reduction is … Essentially, when confronted with a virus, each cell shoots an emergency flare of interferon to tell the immune system to marshall its defenses. So far, two non-peer reviewed research articles have been published. Methods. Symptomatic and biochemical control may be obtained in 40% to 50% of patients with the recommended doses of 3 to 5 million units of recombinant interferon alfa-2a or interferon alfa-2b three to five times per week subcutaneously. Payen JL, Izopet J, Galindo-Migeot V, et al. [citation needed]. The medication is being used in clinical trials to treat patients with SARS-CoV-2[5] although there are not yet published results of those trials on peer-reviewed scientific literature. The recent era of biologic therapy began with the identification and isolation of interferon (IFN)[1] and has been expanded with interleukin-2 (IL-2, aldesleukin [Proleukin]), the hematopoietic growth factors, and the retinoids. The doctors writing the Cuban Prisoners Defenders article warn that the use of interferon-alpha can cause severe side effects in patients while potentially having no effect on the Chinese coronavirus. It is a recombinant form of the protein Interferon alpha-2 that was originally sequenced and produced recombinantly in E. coli[1] in the laboratory of Charles Weissmann at the University of Zurich, in 1980. General description. Interferon is a substance produced by the body's white cells to fight infections, cancer, allergies and toxic chemical poisoning. Some better known natural interferon boosters are: • Astragalus: a Chinese herb that enhances the antibody reaction to foreign invaders of all types including cancer. Countries from across the globe have asked Cuba for the Interferon Alpha 2B, a drug developed in Cuba proven to be an effective against COVID-19 A Cuban drug, known as the Interferon Alpha 2B, could save thousands of lives in the COVID-19 pandemic. Follow Frances Martel on Facebook and Twitter. Testing has reportedly begun on the use of interferon-beta along with two antivirals, Science magazine reported in March. OTHER NAME(S): Interferon Alfa-2B Solution. The country later manufactured ‘recombinant’ human interferon Alfa-2B in 1986. Better efficacy of a 12-month interferon alfa-2b retreatment in patients with chronic hepatitis C relapsing after a 6-month treatment: a multicenter, controlled, randomized trial. Cuba has documented 923 cases of Chinese coronavirus as of Friday; 31 people have died, according to the communist government. HealthLatin AmericaNational SecurityChinacommunismcoronavirusCubainterferonsMedicineWorld Health OrganizationWuhan virus. Interferons not only exhibit important antiviral effects but also exert a key influence on the quality of the cellular immune responses and amplify antigen presentation to specific T cells.” A study published in 2004 in the Journal of Clinical Virology found that interferon-beta can “strongly” block multiplication of the Sudden Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) virus, a type of coronavirus, in human cells, but that interferon-alpha and interferon-gamma did not appear to have the same effect. Cuban Prisoners Defenders concludes that the “reckless and dangerous” use and promotion of the drug is an attempt by the Cuban government to enrich itself even further off of its medical businesses, the largest of which is its $11-billion-a-year slave doctor trade. Cuba’s IFNrec is one of several versions of interferon that are artificially produced. The encoded protein is a type 1 interferon and a glycoprotein. Description. Interferon-alpha 2b’s use against coronavirus in Wuhan, where the virus originated, has become part of the Cuban state media lore about its success. Interferon Alfa-2b Adult Medication. Granma, the official publication of the Cuban Communist Party, proclaimed in March that the Cuban interferon was showing “effectiveness in treating patients with the new SARS Cov-2 coronavirus.” It thanked Fidel Castro – a lawyer, not a virologist, by trade – for the “visionary thinking” that created the interferon and claimed that Cuban and Chinese scientists came up with the treatment together. Considered to be one of the greatest achievements of the Cuban biotechnology boom, this anti-viral drug called Interferon Alfa-2B is produced in China, by Cuban-Chinese joint venture ChangHeber.. ... Tell your doctor and pharmacist about all of your drugs (prescription or OTC, natural products, vitamins) and health problems. Interferons are naturally produced cytokines, which are synthesized and secreted in response to viral infection. Interferon alfa-2b can cause life-threatening infections, autoimmune disorders, serious mood or behavior problems, or a stroke. Cuba began producing Interferon Alfa-2B in 1981. It has been shown in humans that interferon alpha inhibits the releas… '” The drug could “kill, rather than cure patients,” the doctors say. The human rights NGO Cuban Prisoners Defenders published an article on Friday citing three Cuban medical researchers who concluded that the communist regime’s publicity campaign for Interferon alpha-2b, which it claims can cure Chinese coronavirus, is a “serious crime against world public health.”. Natural Interferon From Foods. In this paper we evaluated the influence of the protein concentration and a formulation vehicle on the stability of recombinant human Interferon alpha 2b (rhIFN-α2b) in solution. [8], Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), "Synthesis in E. coli of a polypeptide with human leukocyte interferon activity", "Cuban interferon alpha-2b. A second study by universities in China, Australia and Canada analysed 77 moderate COVID-19 subjects in Wuhan and observed that those who received Interferon alpha-2b showed a significant reduction in the duration of virus shedding period and even in levels of the inflammatory cytokine, IL-6. 14% can present severe forms with the need to receive oxygen, and another approx. Interferon-alpha 2b’s use against coronavirus in Wuhan, where the virus originated, has become part of the Cuban state media lore about its success. It belongs to the class of cytokines. Interferon alfa-2b is an antiviral or antineoplastic drug. Interferon beta-1a, currently in use to treat multiple sclerosis, and interferon alfa-2b are both under investigation as potential treatments for people with COVID-19 coronavirus disease, the deadly respiratory pandemic caused by the SARS-nCoV-2 virus.. "Then a group of people went to Finland to get training in the production of interferon," while people were also producing Interferon from recombined sources using genetic engineering. [2][3] It was developed at Biogen, and ultimately marketed by Schering-Plough under the trade name Intron-A. Interferons have also been used in the treatment of HIV and AIDS. Biologic therapy for cancer may be defined as the use of compounds, or their derivatives, that can be found within the body to treat malignancy. It is a recombinant form of the protein Interferon alpha-2 that was originally sequenced and produced recombinantly in E. coli in the laboratory of Charles Weissmann at the University of Zurich, in 1980. Interferon alfa-2b is an antiviral or antineoplastic drug. Granma had previously stated that Cuba was somehow developing 22 drugs to fight coronavirus, none of them accepted as treatments for the Wuhan virus. A Markov model was developed to estimate costs and quality-adjusted life years (QALYs) comparing between the combination of pegylated interferon alpha 2a or alpha 2b and ribavirin with a usual palliative care for genotype 1 and 6 HCV patients. “The side effects are like you’re in chemical therapy. The drug, called Interferon Alpha-2B Recombinant (IFNrec), is jointly developed by scientists from Cuba and China, where the coronavirus COVID-19 disease outbreak first emerged late last year. “The existence of the corresponding clinical trials that justify their use is also unknown.”. [6] [7], This drug is also used off-label in cats and dogs, both by injection and orally. “When the Government of Cuba assures that the Interferon developed in Cuba cures the coronavirus, it is committing a serious crime against world public health, since this drug not only lacks any scientific proof, but also where it has been tested has already given null results of encouragement,” the doctors concluded, urging the World Health Organization (W.H.O.) As a part of the body's natural immune response, they signal other cells in the body that viral infection has occurred, leading to an "antiviral state" and the inhibition of viral replication. If we consider that most patients develop mild or uncomplicated forms of the disease – some without symptoms – around approx. Interferon Alfa-2B is produced from the protein Interferon Alpha-2 and was originally sequenced and produced in 1980 by Charles Weissmann at the University of Zurich. Thirty years as an effective and safe drug", "Cuba uses "wonder drug" to fight coronavirus around the world despite U.S. sanctions", https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/business/india-business/zydus-to-test-use-of-hep-c-med-for-virus/articleshow/75260635.cms, https://www.reuters.com/article/brief-zydus-explores-biologicals-route-t-idUSFWN2C51DU, "Russia through the prism of the world biopharmaceutical market", https://asiatimes.com/2020/04/covid-contenders-viral-drugs-that-offer-hope/, https://oncubanews.com/en/cuba/the-famous-cuban-interferon-vs-the-sars-cov-2-coronavirus/, https://amerika21.de/2020/03/238594/interferon-kuba-deutschland, Intron-A Summary of Product Characteristics, Methoxy polyethylene glycol-epoetin beta (CERA/Mircera), Granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor, Interferon alpha (interferon alfa, IFN-α), FMS-like tyrosine kinase 3 ligand (FLT3L), Leukemia/leukocyte inhibitory factor (LIF), Signaling peptide/protein receptor modulators, https://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Interferon_alfa-2b&oldid=994247393, Antineoplastic and immunomodulating drug stubs, Articles with changed DrugBank identifier, Chemicals that do not have a ChemSpider ID assigned, Infobox drug articles without a structure image, Chemical articles without CAS registry number, Drugboxes which contain changes to verified fields, Articles with unsourced statements from March 2020, Srpskohrvatski / српскохрватски, Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License, This page was last edited on 14 December 2020, at 19:54. The gene IFN-α2b (interferon α 2b) is mapped to human chromosome 9. The study demonstrated around 10,000 fold reduction in the quantity of virus that was pre-treated with Interferon alpha 48 hours earlier. Call your doctor at once if you have: unusual changes in mood or behavior, chest pain, trouble breathing, sudden numbness or weakness, or signs of infection (fever, chills, cough with mucus, or burning when you urinate). One of the researchers the magazine quoted warned, “if it is given late in the disease it could easily lead to worse tissue damage instead of helping patients.”. This drug is approved around the world for the treatment of chronic hepatitis C, chronic hepatitis B, hairy cell leukemia, Behçet's disease, chronic myelogenous leukemia, multiple myeloma, follicular lymphoma, carcinoid tumor, mastocytosis and malignant melanoma. Interferon is a substance produced by the body's white cells to fight infections, cancer, allergies and toxic chemical poisoning. Yet the doctors writing for Cuban Prisoners Defenders say “experts [in Wuhan] come to tell us to ‘try if you want, but we have tried it and we have not obtained evidence of its benefits. Interferon drugs first emerged for cancer therapy. You must check to make sure that it is safe for you to take this drug with all of your drugs and health problems. The model estimated that interferon-alpha 2b treatment in this population should increase life expectancy by 3.1 years if given at 20 years of age, by 1.5 years at 35 years of age, and by 22 days at 70 years of age; discounted marginal cost-effectiveness ratios are $500, $1900, and $62,000 per year of life gained, respectively. A cost-utility analysis using a model-based economic evaluation was conducted based on a societal perspective. It was also produced in 1986 in recombinant human form, in the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Havana, Cuba, under the name Heberon® Alfa R.[4], It has been used for a wide range of indications, including viral infections and cancers. The first one was Beta Interferon in Japan, and the second one was the family of Alpha Interferon by Genetec in California, according to the Cuban doctor. Interferon-alpha treats viral infections, including: Chronic hepatitis C, hairy cell leukemia, Kaposi sarcoma caused by AIDS, chronic myelogenous leukemia (CML) Chronic hepatitis, lymphoma, and malignant melanoma. NCI's Dictionary of Cancer Terms provides easy-to-understand definitions for words and phrases related to cancer and medicine. Once weekly dosing alfa 2b weight based dosing (1-1.5 mcg/kg/week) high volume of distribution kidney, heart, liver and throughout the bloodstream alfa 2a fixed dose at 180 mcg/week low volume of distribution Genital warts. “Eminent Cuban doctors who have helped to prepare this report have witnessed its use in the elderly hospitalized with severe, community and hospital pneumonia – now classified as associated with health care – and have attested to Prisoners Defenders of the null reduction in mortality,” the report reads. How Interferon Alfa-2b Treats Cancer. Human IFN-α2b is a 19.3kDa protein containing 165 amino acid residues. Peg alfa-2b Peg alfa-2aVolume of 20 L 8LdistributionAbsorption half-life 4.6 50(h)Mean elimination 40 80half-life (h) 23. Structurally, IFN-α2b is O-glycosylated at the threonine residue at position 106. Patients have nausea, vomiting, body pain, anemia; platelets, white blood cells are lowered … it is a very strong and difficult treatment. Interferon alfa-2b is a particular type of interferon protein that is already approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to treat certain viral infections and some forms of cancer when given directly through an IV. LONDON, /PRNewswire/ -- Trizell Ltd (Trizell) announces today that it has opened a Phase 3 Study of its novel gene therapy TR002, an adenovirus-mediated interferon alfa 2b, in patients with malignant pleural mesothelioma (MPM) who have failed first-line standard of care chemotherapy.TR002 is given to trigger the pleiotropic anti-tumour effects of interferon, a naturally … As interferon-alpha has been used to treat hepatitis, the report quotes a hepatologist, Edward Mena, who states that their use results in a “very strong and difficult treatment.”. Data sources: MEDLINE, electronic databases, and manual searches of systematic reviews. Please let us know if you're having issues with commenting. Type II interferons are produced by Natural Killer Cells (NK) and T Helper Cells-1 (Th-1) 4: Production of Type I interferon is stimulated by viruses and bacteria: Production of Type II interferon is stimulated by antigen stimulated T cells. The doctors note that the Cuban Communist Party’s argument in favor of the drug is simply that many who have taken it have also survived a Chinese coronavirus infection, which they conclude is insufficient evidence for global use of a drug with severe side effects. 58. “Cuba generates from 2 to 6 times the national income of tourism through the “rent” in a state of slavery of doctors that are sent to more than 60 countries in the world,” the doctors write. It can be made artificially and injected for some cancers and viral infections like HIV and hepatitis C, however there are side effects. Cuba has spent months promoting a domestically developed interferon – interferon-alpha 2b – as a successful antiviral against the Wuhan virus, offering little to no evidence. While no drug has received universal approval as a safe treatment for coronavirus, the use of interferon-beta – not the interferon Cuba is promoting – is part of a drug cocktail undergoing trials under the W.H.O.’s auspices. The drug has been produced in … It was also produced in 1986 in recombinant human form, in the Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology of Havana, Cuba, under the name Hebe… Objectives: Synthesize evidence of the natural history of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) and effects and harms of antiviral drugs on clinical, virological, histological, and biochemical outcomes. They naturally exist in our system. The side effects are many,” Mena reportedly said. to formally condemn the Cuban Communist Party for urging off-label use of a dangerous drug when no clinical trials or scientific confirmations exist that it works. It does not have the minimum necessary to be considered a scientific investigation. If there are no minimally serious scientific protocols, with a control group, that is, patients who do not receive this drug to compare the evolution with those who do, and even other placebo control groups, the results are more than questionable and are not minimally serious. It was developed at Biogen, and ultimately marketed by Schering-Plough under the trade name Intron-A. It is currently approved to treat hepatitis B and C and genital warts. Cuba manufactured its first interferon in 1981 and was used in the treatment of the haemorrhagic dengue epidemic in Cuba the same year. 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