The effects of pegylated interferon-α and ribavirin on liver and serum concentrations of activin-A and follistatin in normal Wistar rat: a preliminary report

Background: Activin-A and Follistatin regulate the liver and the immune system.

Aims: To measure the effects of treatment with pegylated-interferon-α (Peg-IFN-α) and ribavirin on the concentrations of mature activin-A and Follistatin in serum and liver tissue homogenates in rats.

Methods: A total of 28 male Wistar rats were divided equally into four groups as follow: 'Control group' (n = 7), 'PEG only group' consisted of those that only received a weekly injection of Peg-IFN-α (6 µg/rat) for 4 weeks, 'RBV only group' received ribavirin only (4 mg/rat/day) orally for 35 days and the last group received both Peg-IFN-α and ribavirin 'PEG & RBV group'. The concentrations of candidate proteins in serum and liver samples were measured using ELISA.

Results: Pegylated-interferon-α decreased activin-A and increased Follistatin significantly in serum and liver of 'PEG only' and 'PEG & RBV' groups compared with the 'Control' and 'RBV only' groups (P < 0.05). There was no significant difference between the 'RBV only' and 'Control' groups (P > 0.05) in the concentrations of candidate proteins. A significant positive correlations between serum and liver activin-A (r = 0.727; P = 0.02 × 10(-3)) and Follistatin (r = 0.540; P = 0.01) was also detected.

Conclusion: Pegylated-interferon-α modulates the production of activin-A and Follistatin by the liver, which is reflected and can be detected at the serum level. Further studies are needed to explore the role of Peg-IFN-α based therapy on the production of activins and Follistatin by the liver and immune cells.