Immunological Enhancement of Interferon Alpha Treatment to Allogeneic Bone Marrow Transplantation in Irradiated Rats

 THE INFLUENCE of the biological response modifiers: interferon alpha (IFN-α) and bone marrow transplantation (BMT) on stimulation of blood cell recovery and boosting the immunological response were investigated in this work. Male rats received BMT 3 h post total body γ-irradiation of 5 Gy and were injected with 10 units of IFN-α weekly for 5 weeks.
Irradiation induced a significant decrease in blood parameters, reduced glutathione (GSH) as well as bone marrow lymphocyte count and viability. Immunological data revealed that tumour necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α) and interleukin-2 (IL-2) recorded a significant depression while lipid peroxidation (MDA) was conversely elevated. White blood cells (WBC), erythrocytes (RBC), haemoglobin (Hb), haematocrit (Hct), lymphocytes and GSH in irradiated animals receiving BMT and IFN-α, were significantly elevated, while MDA was significantly depressed as compared to the irradiated group. Bone marrow lymphocytic count and viability percentage were significantly increased while IL-2 and TNF-α were normalized.
The curative action of IFN-α enforcing significant innate response could trigger and augment adaptive immune response by bone marrow transplantation. Such therapies boosting both components of immunity would be considered a potential strategy for irradiation treatment.