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PRE-TREATMENT WITH DIESEL EXHAUST EXTRACT ALTERS INFLUENZA VIRUS REPLICATION IN LUNG EPITHELIAL CELLS
Citation:
Jaspers, I., J Ciencewicki, M. Brighton, W. Zhang, AND M. Beck. PRE-TREATMENT WITH DIESEL EXHAUST EXTRACT ALTERS INFLUENZA VIRUS REPLICATION IN LUNG EPITHELIAL CELLS. Presented at Society of Toxicology, Baltimore, MD, March 21-25, 2004.
Description:
Diesel Exhaust (DE) has been demonstrated to generate inflammatory responses in the lung and modify immune responses to allergens. However, little is known about the effects of DE on common respiratory viral infections. We examined whether exposure to DE extracts (DEE) modifies influenza infections of human lung epithelial cells. Differentiated human bronchial epithelial cells or A549 cells were exposed to DEE prior to infection with influenza A Bangkok/1/79. Analysis of hemagglutinin (HA) mRNA, a marker for viral propagation, indicates that exposure to DEE enhances viral replication in lung epithelial cells as early as 24 hours post-infection. This was not caused by a reduced antiviral defense response of the host cells, since mRNA levels for MxA, a major interferon b-inducible antiviral defense gene, as well as nuclear levels for phospho-STAT1 and ISGF3g, transcription factors mediating interferon b-induced gene expression, were also upregulated by prior exposure to DEE. Taken together these data indicate that exposure to DE can enhance influenza virus replication in human lung epithelial cells possibly without altering the host cell defense responses