Relationship between the antiviral effects of interferons and their abilities to depress cytochrome P-450

Several hybrid human interferons have now been constructed by recombinant DNA techniques. Two of these hybrid interferons, IFN-alpha AD(Bgl) and IFN-alpha AD(Pvu) differ by only three amino acids, but IFN-alpha AD(Bgl) was fifteen times more potent than IFN-alpha AD(Pvu) in antiviral activity towards infection of mouse L-929 cells by vesicular stomatitis virus. Only the hybrid with the greater antiviral activity in the mouse depressed cytochrome P-450, aminopyrine N-demethylase and benzo[a]pyrene hydroxylase in the liver. These experiments demonstrate that minor changes in amino acid structure not only have a major effect on the antiviral properties of interferon but also influence the ability of interferon to depress cytochrome P-450 in the liver.