The potential feasibility of using exogenously administered human interferon for the treatment of selected cases of leishmaniasis prompted us to study the effects of murine interferon on the course of Leishmania tropica infection in C57Bl/6 mice. L cell-derived mouse interferon was administered daily by intraperitoneal (1,000 and 10,000 U) or intralesional (100 U) injection in mice inoculated into footpads with L. tropica amastigotes. Footpad swelling and tissue parasite density were assessed over the course of infection. Interferon treatment did not significantly affect these clinical and parasitological parameters. Furthermore, addition of interferon (100--100,000 U) to cultures of amastigote-infected mouse peritoneal macrophages or to axenic cultures of promastigotes did not affect replication. We conclude that interferon lacks intrinsic antileishmanial activity and does not significantly enhance host defense against Leishmania.

On routine hospital admission, 23,714 patients received a 28-test serum metabolic profile. The 33 most common diseases (4,132 patients) of liver, pancreas, and gallbladder (LPG) had unique chemical templates averaging 15 significant serum deviations. Each LPG disease differed from all others by elevations of both leucine-aminopeptidase (LAP) and alkaline phosphatase (AP) levels. LAP level was low or normal and serum glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase (SGOT) and AP levels were elevated in 43 non-LPG diseases. Patients with acute and chronic pancreatitis had elevated amylase levels. The four nonmalignant diseases of the gallbladder were associated with normal levels of amylase and lactic dehydrogenase (LDH); except for silent cholelithiasis, each showed elevated total bilirubin (BIL) levels. Patients with solitary or scattered lesions of the liver had normal bilirubin levels (2,115 patients), and those with diffuse interstitial or parencymal disease had elevated BIL levels. Cancer patients had elevated LDH and alpha1 globulin (A1G) levels, but low albumin levels. The importance of comprehensive liver profiles in the treatment of psychoses is emphasized by significant liver damage in a number of these patients. A1G was normal and LDH was elevated in patients having mononucleosis, hepatitis, lupus erythematosus, alcoholism, and alcoholic cirrhosis.