GAMMA-INTERFERON ADMINISTRATION TO PATIENTS WITH ATOPIC-DERMATITIS INHIBITS FIBRINOLYSIS AND ELEVATES C1 INHIBITOR

Recombinant human gamma interferon was used to treat 10 atopic dermati tis patients. Recombinant gamma interferon was administered weekly for three consecutive days at 50 mu g/M-2 SQ for four weeks. All patients ' dermatitis improved with recombinant gamma interferon therapy and pl asma tumor necrosis factor-alpha levels rose with treatment. Recombina nt gamma interferon treatment positively correlated with reduced total plasma fibrinolysis as measured by the fibrin lysis plate, plasmin-al pha(2)antiplasmin complexes, and tissue type plasminogen activator lev els. Accordingly, plasminogen activator inhibitor levels increased. Tr eatment also was associated with a transient increase in thrombin-anti thrombin III complexes. Recombinant gamma interferon resulted in a sig nificant increase in C1 inhibitor antigen but not activity. Plasma pre kallikrein, high molecular weight kininogen, and factor XII levels wer e not decreased. However, 5 of the 10 atopic dermatitis patients befor e therapy had circulating cleaved plasma high molecular weight kininog en detected on immunoblot, indicating prior kallikrein formation. The cleaved, circulating plasma high molecular weight kininogen disappeare d in four out of the five original patients who were reexamined at one year after treatment. These combined data indicated that recombinant gamma interferon treatment reduced total plasma fibrinolysis. In untre ated atopic dermatitis, circulating cleaved high molecular weight kini nogen also may be a presenting manifestation. (C) 1998 Elsevier Scienc e Ltd.