Interferon-gamma as adjunctive immunotherapy for invasive fungal infections: a case series.
BMC Infect Dis
; 14: 166, 2014 Mar 26.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-24669841
BACKGROUND: Invasive fungal infections are very severe infections associated with high mortality rates, despite the availability of new classes of antifungal agents. Based on pathophysiological mechanisms and limited pre-clinical and clinical data, adjunctive immune-stimulatory therapy with interferon-gamma (IFN-γ) may represent a promising candidate to improve outcome of invasive fungal infections by enhancing host defence mechanisms. METHODS: In this open-label, prospective case series, we describe eight patients with invasive Candida and/or Aspergillus infections who were treated with recombinant IFN-γ (rIFN-γ, 100 µg s.c., thrice a week) for 2 weeks in addition to standard antifungal therapy. RESULTS: Recombinant IFN-γ treatment in patients with invasive Candida and/or Aspergillus infections partially restored immune function, as characterized by an increased HLA-DR expression in those patients with a baseline expression below 50%, and an enhanced capacity of leukocytes from treated patients to produce proinflammatory cytokines involved in antifungal defence. CONCLUSIONS: The present study provides evidence that adjunctive immunotherapy with IFN-γ can restore immune function in fungal sepsis patients, warranting future clinical studies to assess its potential clinical benefit. TRIAL REGISTRATION: ClinicalTrials.gov--NCT01270490.
Texto completo:
1
Base de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Aspergilose
/
Interferon gama
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Candidíase Invasiva
Idioma:
En
Ano de publicação:
2014
Tipo de documento:
Article