Introduction: granulocyte colony-stimulating factor -G-CSF- has been used widely for the treatment of chemotherapy-induced neutropenia. One of the major side-effects of interferon-α -IFN-α- therapy is neutropenia. Previous studies have confirmed the beneficial effects of co-administration of G-CSF and IFN-α on neutropenia in patients infected with hepatitis C. In this study for the first time, the effects of co-administration of type I IFNs and G-CSF on liver and liver enzymes have been investigated. Materials and methods: forty-two mice -male, eight weeks- were randomly divided into six groups of seven: distilled water, G-CSF -200μg/kg-, interferon alpha -IFN-α- -200μg/kg-, interferon beta -IFN-β- -200μg/kg-, IFN-a+G-CSF, and IFN-b+G-CSF. After 28 days, blood was taken from the heart of each mouse and histological changes in liver and liver enzymes of aspartate transaminase -AST- and alanine transaminase -ALT-, as well as bilirubin, were measured. Results: Surprisingly, in most cases, the G-CSF and type one IFNs alone or simultaneously reduced the levels of AST and bilirubin. The levels of ALT were induced by IFN-α, the addition of G-CSF to IFN-α reduced the level of this liver enzyme. G-CSF induced cell infiltrations into the liver tissue, addition of IFN-α but not IFN-β to G-CSF obviously reduced the cell infiltration into the liver. Conclusions: Since the changes in liver enzymes and bilirubin were not at harmful levels, and the administration of IFN-α to G-CSF reduced the cell infiltrations into the liver, our results suggested that co-administration of type I IFNs and G-CSF had no harmful effects on liver histology and functions.

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