IFN-alpha: therapeutic options in HIV and HIV/HCV, HIV/HBV dual infection.

The antiviral effects of interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) are well documented for the treatment of hepatitis B or C infections, whereas antiretroviral effects for treatment of HIV-1 infection have been investigated up to now only in small-sized preclinical studies. New preclinical and clinical data on IFN-alpha for HIV, HCV, HBV and especially on co-infections of HIV with HCV or HBV were presented at a symposium of the ConVir conference 2002. This short paper summarizes the presented data on IFN-alpha treatment for HIV and/or HCV or HBV infections.