Characterization of the Antiviral Activity Produced during Trypanosoma cruzi Infection and Protective Effects of Exogenous Interferon against Experimental Chagas' Disease

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Abstract
Mice infected with T. cruzi developed an antiviral activity in their sera as early as 24 h postinfection. This activity was characterized in this work as .alpha./.beta. interferon by the following criteria: resistance to pH 2 treatment, sensitivity to incubation at 56.degree. C or to trypsin treatment, or to actinomycin D treatment and inactivation by antibody specific for .alpha./.beta. interferon produced in [neoplastic fibroblast] L cells. Mice receiving exogenous .alpha./.beta. interferon in 7 daily doses starting on the day of infection with T. cruzi displayed an enhanced resistance evidenced by significantly decreased parasitemias with respect to those of infected animals receiving a mock preparation lacking interferon activity. Direct incubation of T. cruzi with interferon had no consequence on the motility, infectivity or virulence of the parasite. These results suggest a possible role for interferon in inducing enhancement of host resistance against T. cruzi infection.

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