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?:abstract
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Interferons are a group of soluble glycoproteins produced and released from cells as a response to viral infections. They are named as such due to their ability to ‘interfere’ with the viral cell production.There are three forms of interferons-Type I, Type II and Type III. Type I interferons consist of IFN-α, IFN-ß, IFN-ω, IFN-к, IFN-ε that are induced by cytokines and act/bind on the IFNAR receptor. Type II interferon consists only of IFN-४ and is mostly produced by NK cells, CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and B cells. In addition to the antiviral property, they also have antiproliferative effects on tumours. Type III interferon has four types of IFN-λ that act through an FNGR receptor. Interferon has wide activity as an antiviral, antiangiogenic, antiproliferative agent-effectively preventing cancers, chronic viral infections and threatening diseases. Interferon can be applied as systemic or topical based on the treatment to be rendered to the patient-although topical had slight to no side effects. Recently, IFN-ß-1b and IFN-α2b have been studied for their properties in the growing COVID-19 pandemic and have proved to be effective as they show faster relief than other drugs. Although it has various advantages, interferon therapy includes numerous side effects like anxiety, depression, alopecia; mainly causing neurotoxicity and haematotoxicity-neutropenia. Some of these side effects are short and manageable but others may be long and persist after treatment also. Further studies on interferons would be prospective and can treat a wide variety of human disorders.
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