The use of intranasal interferon alpha-2b medicine in the complex treatment of children with thermal burn injury

Objective. To assess the effect of intranasal recombinant interferon alpha-2b medicine (IFN-α2b, Grippferon) in the complex treatment of children with thermal burn injury based on the changes in the clinical parameters and the levels of pro- and antiinflammatory cytokines in saliva. Patients and methods. The study included two groups of children with thermal burn injury that were comparable by gender, age and burn injury type. Main group patients (Group I, n = 20) received recombinant human IFN-α2b medicine intranasally in addition to the basic treatment, whereas the control group patients (Group II, n = 20) were given only the basic therapy. The results were compared with data of 20 healthy children (healthy controls). The levels of IFN-α2, IFN-γ, IL-1a, -1b, -4, -5, -6, -10, TNF-α and TNF-β were measured during follow-up visits on days 1 and 10 in the hospital. Results were analysed using Statistica 6.0 software. Null hypotheses were rejected at p < 0.05. Results. Our findings reveal that the levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in all patients were lower, than those in healthy controls (p < 0.050), except for IL-6 and IL-10, whose levels increased (p = 0.001 and p = 0.012, respectively). The levels of mediators correlated with the burn area and depth (0.031 ≤ p ≤ 0.050). The use of intranasal recombinant IFN-α2b medicine was associated with a less pronounced imbalance in the levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines and ensured a 20% reduction in the absolute risk of acute respiratory viral disease (χ2 = 4,44, p = 0,035). Conclusion. Thermal burn injury in children can compromise the immunological homeostasis, manifested by changes in the levels of pro- and anti-inflammatory cytokines in mixed unstimulated saliva. Intranasal recombinant IFN-α2b medicine (Grippferon) has an immunomodulatory effect and can be recommended as a part of complex treatment of children with thermal burn injury for the prevention of acute respiratory viral diseases. Keywords: burn, thermal burn injury, cytokines, interferon alpha-2b, Grippferon, prevention, acute respiratory viral infections