Nature Medicine paper26 Feb 2021 07:26
Here’s a recently published paper (mentions Neanderthals so quite relevant to some of you lot!), with relevant interferon extract below...
https://www.nature.com/articles/s41591-021-01281-1
“...a recent phase 2 trial testing the effect of inhaled nebulized interferon beta-1a (which is closely related to interferon beta-1b) showed improved COVID-19 symptoms in the treatment arm50. Although this study was not powered to show a difference in mortality, all deaths occurred in the placebo group. Inhaled nebulized interferon beta results in a much higher tissue availability in the lung and might result in improved antiviral activity. Moreover, timing of administration is likely to play a role, as the administration of a pro-inflammatory cytokine might not provide benefit during the inflammation-driven phase of the disease. However, data on timing of administration are currently unavailable in the SOLIDARITY trial, and conclusions cannot yet be drawn. Lastly, the effect of interferon supplement might vary across ancestral populations, as different ancestries have different amounts of the more active p46 isoform of OAS1. Our study was limited to individuals of European ancestry, a population with higher expression of the p46 isoform. Interestingly, the SOLIDARITY trial enrolled 78% of its patients in South Asia, the Middle East, North Africa and Latin America, populations that might have higher expression of the p42 OAS1 isoform, whereas the study on inhaled interferon beta comprised 80% White patients from the United Kingdom. It is possible that interferon beta-1b might have different effects in populations of different ancestry due to different frequency of genetic variants in different populations.
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