Oral use of human alpha interferon in cats.

Low doses (0.5 or 5.0 U) of human alpha interferon (HuIFN alpha) given orally prevented the experimental development of fatal feline leukemia virus (FeLV)-related disease. Twenty-one FeLV-susceptible cats were inoculated with the Rickard strain of FeLV. Cats given oral HuIFN alpha survived significantly (p less than 0.001) longer than untreated FeLV-infected cats. Moreover, only 4 of 13 (30.8%) HuIFN alpha-treated cats developed clinical disease during the course of the study, whereas 100% of the untreated control cats developed fatal FeLV-related disease. Thus, in experimental retroviral disease, heterologous species HuIFN alpha provided significant clinical benefits.