Toxicologic evaluations of recombinant liver-targeting interferon IFN-CSP: Genotoxicity and tegenicratoity.

Interferon alpha as the one of FDA recommended drugs for Hepatitis B virus (HBV) infection has many side effects. Targeting IFNα to the liver may be a strategy to increase its efficacy locally and may increase efficacy of IFNα-based therapy of HBV infection. We have prepared a novel liver-targeting fusion interferon (IFN-CSP) combining IFN α2b with plasmodium region I peptide and have revealed it may be an excellent candidate as a liver-targeting anti-HBV agent. In this study, we investigated the genotoxic and teratogenic effects of IFN-CSP. The genotoxicity of IFN-CSP was evaluated by using a standard battery of tests (bacterial reverse mutation assay, mouse bone marrow micronucleus assay, and mouse sperm malformation assay). The results showed that IFN-CSP did not increase the number of revertant colonies in the plates of four strains, had no marked effect on the incidence of mouse bone marrow micronucleus and did not affect sperm deformity proportion at doses up to 8.8 × 108 IU/kg, which was 1128.2 folds of the maximum' clinical equivalent dosage. Meanwhile, for teratogenicity test of IFN-CSP in female SD rats at the dosage of 6.3 × 107 IU/kg, no toxicological signs were observed. These results indicated that IFN-CSP has no genotoxicity and teratogenicity under the testing conditions.