Whereas in patients with a more serious form of leprosy, a protein associated with a viral response - interferon-beta - was prominent.
The researchers found that while two-thirds of infants with biliary atresia produced a cytokine called gamma-interferon, the protein was not found in any of the samples of infants with cholestasis.
Writing in the Lancet medical journal, researchers from The International Hepatitis Interventional Therapy Group report a new treatment for chronic HCV infection that uses a combination of interferon alpha-2b and a drug called ribavirin.
The drug is a synthetic version of interferon gamma-1b, a distant cousin of the more famous virus fighter used against hepatitis and cancer.
Currently a drug called interferon alpha-2b is given to patients for a 48-week period.
In those with a milder form of the disease, they found a protein associated with a bacterial immune response - interferon-gamma.
Their levels of a hormone called interferon-tau were far lower than normal.
Two trials, published in the Lancet medical journal, compared the effectiveness of alemtuzumab with a first-choice drug, interferon beta-1a.
It has also improved on Rebetron with a drug called Peg-Intron, a "pegylated" combination of interferon and polyethylene glycol (Peg for short).
Doctors told her she could never take interferon again-a big problem because the main hepatitis C regimens all use this protein.
Doctors have been using a hormone called interferon in combination with anti-viral drugs for several years.
The boost to one in particular, interferon-gamma, was sizeable, a 13.6 fold increase.
But the ultimate goal is a two- to three-pill cocktail that could replace interferon and cure the vast majority with few side effects.
The standard interferon alpha-2b treatment three times a week.
Not only is interferon-beta an ineffective weapon against bacteria, it can block the action of interferon gamma - which is when bacteria can gain a foothold, the researchers said.
Human Genome Sciences (nasdaq: HGSI - news - people ) is developing a drug, Albuferon, a combination of the human protein albumin and interferon.
Roche, which already sells pegylated interferon (Pegasys) and ribavirin (Copegus), announced in May that in a small early-stage trial its polymerase inhibitor was effective in significantly reducing the viral load.
Last week, Vertex released a press release showing it could reduce infection in patients who had not been helped by interferon therapy, including tough-to-treat patients drug companies often leave out of clinical trials.
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