You are here:
INFLUENZA VIRUS HOST RESISTANCE MODELS IN MICE AND RATS: UTILIZATION FOR UMMUNE FUNCTION ASSESSMENT AND IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY
Citation:
Lebrec, L. AND G. Burleson. INFLUENZA VIRUS HOST RESISTANCE MODELS IN MICE AND RATS: UTILIZATION FOR UMMUNE FUNCTION ASSESSMENT AND IMMUNOTOXICOLOGY. U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Washington, D.C., EPA/600/J-95/049, 1994.
Description:
Each year influenza viruses are responsible for epidemic respiratory diseases with excess morbidity and mortality. he severity of influenza disease ranges from mid upper respiratory tract infections to severe lower respiratory tract infections involving pneumonia, bronchiolitis and coincidental bacterial superinfections. ifferent animal models (guinea pig, Syrian hamster, chinchilla, hedgehog, chicken, rat, ferret, nonhuman primates, and the mouse) have been used to study the pathogenesis as well as the local and the systemic immune responses to influenza infection. he immune response to influenza viruses can be schematically divided into a cascade of nonspecific and specific functions. hese functions are involved at different well defined time points after infection. e describe in this manuscript three influenza models utilized in our laboratory: (a) a highly virulent influenza virus (influenza A/Hong Kong/8/68 (H3N2) virus) adapted to B6C3F1 mice, (b) a mouse-adapted influenza A/Port Chalmer/1/73 (H3N2) virus, and (c) a rat-adapted influenza virus (RA model (influenza A/Port Chalmer/1/73 (H3N2)). his rat-adapted influenza model has been mainly utilized as a model to assess local immunotoxic effects of inhaled environmental pollutants such as phosgene. hese host resistance models are also useful for assessing the effect of systemically-induced immunosuppression by drugs or chemicals on the local pulmonary immune response to influenza virus.