The distribution of immunoreactive interferon-alpha in normal human tissues.

The cellular distribution of immunoreactive interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) was studied in formalin-fixed paraffin-embedded normal human tissues from 36 different organs. These samples were drawn from over 300 individuals none of whom had evidence of viral infection. Tissue histiocytes from all organs in the body, with the exception of brain and renal cortex and medulla, stained positively for IFN-alpha. Kupffer cells, pulmonary alveolar macrophages and lymph node macrophages were also positive. Parenchymal cells in some other organs also appeared to contain immunoreactive IFN-alpha. These included cuboidal lining cells of the choroid plexus in the brain, thyroid follicular cells, pituitary endocrine cells, adrenocortical cells and parathyroid principal and oxyphil cells. These findings are compatible with previous suggestions that IFN-alpha may be synthesized and released in the absence of viral infection and may thus have a role in normal physiology. The presence of IFN-alpha in most cells of the mononuclear phagocyte system suggests that these cells may play a major part in defence against viral infection.