Absence of circulating interferon in patients with inflammatory bowel disease. Suggestion against an autoimmune etiology.

Whether inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD) can be classified as autoimmune disorders is not established. Since circulating acid-labile interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) is believed to reflect autoimmune reactions, we tested sera from two groups of IBD patients for the presence of circulating IFN. No detectable IFN was found in 51 serum samples of IBD patients. Furthermore, in no serum sample of IBD patients were neutralizing anti-IFN antibodies found. In contrast, acid-labile IFN-alpha was present in sera from 21/52 HIV-infected and from 6/14 systemic lupus erythematosus patients. These observations provide evidence that IBD differs from systemic autoimmune disorders, at least for the presence of circulating IFN.