Discoid lupus erythematosus (DLE) is an autoimmune, chronic skin disease. It may lead to cosmetic unacceptable scars on the face and when it is localized on the scalp, it may lead to permanent cicatricial alopecia. In various publications, interferon (IFN) alpha was found to be efficient in autoimmune disease such as multiple sclerosis, arthritis rheumatica and thrombocytopenic purpura. This study has been done to investigate the therapeutic effect of IFN alpha 2a in DLE. Six patients were studied. These subjects were diagnosed as DLE by clinical and histopathological data. Patients who have not been treated by any systemic and topical treatment for DLE within the last month, were included. 18-27 millions IU of IFN alpha 2a per week was administered under hospital conditions for four weeks. The influenza-like symptoms, occurring during daily treatment of 3-4.5 millions IU IFN alpha 2a were treated by paracetamol. The fading of the erythema and the reduction of the diameter were used as healing criteria. So, 50% healing in three cases and 70% in two cases, were observed while in the remaining one case the healing rate was under 50%. Our data support that IFN alpha 2a is a potential agent either for curative or adjunct treatment of DLE
