Leukocyte Interferon-α-n3 Inhibits Influenza A Viral Replication in Human Alveolar Epithelial A549 Cells.

The emergence of the drug-resistant Influenza A strains including the antiviral resistant 2009 pandemic H1N1 (pH1N1) highlighted this urgent need to develop new antiviral strategies for protecting against infection of Influenza virus. Type I interferon including interferon alpha and beta (IFN-α/β) produced by host cells in response to the presence of pathogens, plays a critical role in viral pathogen clearance during infection. In this study we determined the effect of Alferon N Injection® (a natural interferon alpha product derived from human leukocytes, IFN-α-n3) on the Influenza A virus including pH1N1 virus isolated from pigs, Avian H9N2 and Swine H3N2 viruses in human alveolar epithelial A549 cells. The results showed that IFN-α-n3 is able to inhibit replication of these three Influenza A viruses in human alveolar epithelial cells, indicating that IFN-α-n3 may be useful in treating Influenza clinically.