Neopterin and alpha-interferon in patients affected by Kaposi's sarcoma from Africa.

The presence of circulating alpha-interferon and neopterin was investigated in sera of 47 patients affected by African Kaposi's sarcoma, both HIV-seropositive (13 patients) and HIV-seronegative (34 patients). For comparison, analyses were also performed in 20 HIV-seropositive symptomatic African subjects as well as in 20 African and 20 Italian healthy individuals. Alpha-interferon and neopterin levels appeared significantly higher in comparison with healthy control groups (P less than 0.001) but not with HIV-seropositve African individuals without Kaposi's sarcoma. Moreover, alpha-interferon and neopterin levels were significantly higher in progressive Kaposi's sarcoma (27 patients) than in regressive Kaposi's sarcoma (20 patients) (P less than 0.001). A significant correlation between alpha-interferon and neopterin was observed (r = 0.57; P less than 0.01). Furthermore, alpha-interferon levels of HIV-seropositive Kaposi's sarcoma patients resulted significantly higher in comparison with the seronegative ones (P less than 0.05). It is concluded that alpha-interferon and neopterin may be reliable prognostic markers in Kaposi's sarcoma patients.