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National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences

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Publication Detail

Title: Airway Surface Liquid Has Innate Antiviral Activity That Is Reduced in Cystic Fibrosis.

Authors: Berkebile, Abigail R; Bartlett, Jennifer A; Abou Alaiwa, Mahmoud; Varga, Steven M; Power, Ultan F; McCray Jr, Paul B

Published In Am J Respir Cell Mol Biol, (2020 01)

Abstract: Although chronic bacterial infections and inflammation are associated with progressive lung disease in patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), much less is known regarding the contributions of respiratory viral infections to this process. Clinical studies suggest that antiviral host defenses may be compromised in individuals with CF, and CF airway epithelia exhibit impaired antiviral responses in vitro. Here, we used the CF pig model to test the hypothesis that the antiviral activity of respiratory secretions is reduced in CF. We developed an in vitro assay to measure the innate antiviral activity present in airway surface liquid (ASL) from CF and non-CF pigs. We found that tracheal and nasal ASL from newborn non-CF pigs exhibited dose-dependent inhibitory activity against several enveloped and encapsidated viruses, including Sendai virus, respiratory syncytial virus, influenza A, and adenovirus. Importantly, we found that the anti-Sendai virus activity of nasal ASL from newborn CF pigs was significantly diminished relative to non-CF littermate controls. This diminution of extracellular antiviral defenses appears to be driven, at least in part, by the differences in pH between CF and non-CF ASL. These data highlight the novel antiviral properties of native airway secretions and suggest the possibility that defects in extracellular antiviral defenses contribute to CF pathogenesis.

PubMed ID: 31242392 Exiting the NIEHS site

MeSH Terms: Animals; Antiviral Agents/immunology*; Body Fluids/immunology*; Body Fluids/virology; Cystic Fibrosis/immunology*; Cystic Fibrosis/virology; Hydrogen-Ion Concentration; Immunity, Innate/immunology*; Lung/immunology*; Lung/virology; Respiratory Mucosa/immunology; Respiratory Mucosa/virology; Swine; Trachea/immunology; Trachea/virology; Virus Diseases/immunology; Virus Diseases/virology; Viruses/immunology

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