ANTIVIRAL ACTIVITY APPEARING IN SERUM OF RENAL TRANSPLANT RECIPIENTS

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Abstract
Sera collected from a majority (15/16) of recipients of renal transplants occasionally contained low, but significant, levels of antiviral activity, maximally corresponding to 25-50 U of interferon-.alpha./ml of serum in a bioassay. The exception was the only transplanted patient with a known cytomegalovirus infection, who demonstrated persistent high levels of antiviral activity corresponding to 200-400 interferon U/ml. Only the latter antiviral activity was sufficiently high for a partial characterization. It was pH 2 labile, did not have antigenic properties of interferon-.alpha. or .beta., and may correspond to the lymphokine interferon-.gamma.. In consecutive serum samples from individual patients, the peaks of the antiviral activity occurred preponderantly in connection with clinical signs and consequent treatment of graft rejections. Interferon may, therefore, be a useful marker (at the serum level) of incipient graft rejection and of certain viral infections, provided that a more rapid sensitive and precise assay of this lymphokine is developed.