Deficiency of interferon-α is associated with susceptibility to opportunistic infections in patients with acquired immunodeficiency syndrome

In this article, the authors present a summary of their studies suggesting that T-cell immunodeficiency cannot solely account for susceptibility to AIDS with opportunistic infections, and that it may be a consequence rather than a cause of infections. In contrast, ability of mononuclear cells to produce interferon- alpha (IFN- alpha ) when challenged with HSV-1 infected fibroblasts, appears to be the earliest immunodeficiency thus far associated with this syndrome.