EVIDENCE FOR AN ANTIVIRAL EFFECT AND INTERFERON NEUTRALIZING CAPACITYIN HUMAN SERA - VARIABILITY AND IMPLICATIONS FOR HIV-INFECTION

The antiviral effect (AVE) and interferon neutralizing capacity (INC) of sera originating from either seronegative or HIV-infected individua ls were determined. As a rule, sera from seropositive subjects exhibit ed higher AVE titers than sera from seronegative individuals. Similarl y, the INC of sera from HIV-infected patients, was most often stronger than that of sera from seronegative individuals. Furthermore, sera fr om HIV-infected patients actively immunized with i-IFN alpha invariabl y expressed INC in response to treatment, which was not the case for s era from control unimmunized patients. All sera from HIV-infected pati ents were found by ELISA to contain antibodies specifically directed t o IFN alpha.