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Presence of a partially acid‐labile alpha‐interferon in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of patients with cytomegalovirus pneumonitis is associated with a poor prognosis
Author(s) -
Lever A. M. L.,
Milburn Heather J.,
du Bois R. M.,
Griffiths P. D.,
Grundy Jane E.
Publication year - 1988
Publication title -
journal of medical virology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.782
H-Index - 121
eISSN - 1096-9071
pISSN - 0146-6615
DOI - 10.1002/jmv.1890240109
Subject(s) - bronchoalveolar lavage , pneumonitis , medicine , cytomegalovirus , alpha interferon , betaherpesvirinae , interferon , immunology , virology , pathology , herpesviridae , lung , viral disease , virus
In 30 patients with pneumonitis, 16 of whom had undergone bone marrow transplantation, 13 episodes of cytomegalovirus (CMV) pneumonitis were diagnosed. In three of these, alpha‐interferon, which in two cases was partially acid‐labile, was detected in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid. All three of these patients died. Only two deaths occurred in ten patients without detectable levels of alpha interferon in the lavage fluid. CMV pneumonitis in immunocompromised patients appears to stimulate the local production of a partially acid‐labile alpha‐interferon, and its presence is associated with a poor prognosis. Gamma‐interferon was not found in the lavage fluid of any patient with pneumonitis.