Antibody and Local Cytokine Response to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in Community-Dwelling Older Adults.

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is increasingly recognized for causing severe morbidity and mortality in older adults, but there are few studies on the RSV-induced immune response in this population. Information on the immunological processes at play during RSV infection in specific risk groups is essential for the rational and targeted design of novel vaccines and therapeutics. Here, we assessed the antibody and local cytokine response to RSV infection in community-dwelling older adults (≥60 years of age). During three winters, serum and nasopharyngeal swab samples were collected from study participants during acute respiratory infection and recovery. RSV IgG enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA) and virus neutralization assays were performed on serum samples from RSV-infected individuals (n = 41) and controls (n = 563 and n = 197, respectively). Nasal RSV IgA and cytokine concentrations were determined using multiplex immunoassays in a subset of participants. An in vitro model of differentiated primary bronchial epithelial cells was used to assess RSV-induced cytokine responses over time. A statistically significant increase in serum neutralization titers and IgG concentrations was observed in RSV-infected participants compared to controls. During acute RSV infection, a statistically significant local upregulation of beta interferon (IFN-ß), IFN-λ1, IFN-γ, interleukin 1ß (IL-1ß), tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNF-α), IL-6, IL-10, CXCL8, and CXCL10 was found. IFN-ß, IFN-λ1, CXCL8, and CXCL10 were also upregulated in the epithelial model upon RSV infection. In conclusion, this study provides novel insights into the basic immune response to RSV infection in an important and understudied risk population, providing leads for future studies that are essential for the prevention and treatment of severe RSV disease in older adults.IMPORTANCE Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) can cause severe morbidity and mortality in certain risk groups, especially infants and older adults. Currently no (prophylactic) treatment is available, except for a partially effective yet highly expensive monoclonal antibody. RSV therefore remains a major public health concern. To allow targeted development of novel vaccines and therapeutics, it is of great importance to understand the immunological mechanisms that underlie (protection from) severe disease in specific risk populations. Since most RSV-related studies focus on infants, there are only very limited data available concerning the response to RSV in the elderly population. Therefore, in this study, RSV-induced antibody responses and local cytokine secretion were assessed in community-dwelling older adults. These data provide novel insights that will benefit ongoing efforts to design safe and effective prevention and treatment strategies for RSV in an understudied risk group.

Pathogenesis of Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infection in BALB/c Mice Differs Between Intratracheal and Intranasal Inoculation.

Human respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe lower respiratory tract disease requiring hospitalization in infants. There are no market-approved vaccines or antiviral agents available, but a growing number of vaccines and therapeutics are in (pre)clinical stages of development. Reliable animal models are crucial to evaluate new vaccine concepts, but in vivo RSV research is hampered by the lack of well-characterized animal models that faithfully mimic the pathogenesis of RSV infection in humans. Mice are frequently used in RSV infection and vaccination studies. However, differences in the use of mouse strains, RSV subtypes, and methodology often lead to divergent study outcomes. To our knowledge, a comparison between different RSV inoculation methods in mice has not been described in the literature, even though multiple methods are being used across different studies. In this study, we evaluated various pathological and immunological parameters in BALB/c mice after intratracheal or intranasal inoculation with RSV-A2. Our study reveals that intranasal inoculation induces robust pathology and inflammation, whereas this is not the case for intratracheal inoculation. As immunopathology is an important characteristic of RSV disease in infants, these data suggest that in mice intranasal inoculation is a more appropriate method to study RSV infection than intratracheal inoculation. These findings will contribute to the rational experimental design of future in vivo RSV experiments.

Respiratory Syncytial Virus Infects Primary Neonatal and Adult Natural Killer Cells and Affects Their Antiviral Effector Function.

BACKGROUND: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is a major cause of severe acute lower respiratory tract infections in infants. Natural killer (NK) cells are important antiviral effector cells that likely encounter RSV in the presence of virus-specific (maternal) antibodies. As NK cells potentially contribute to immunopathology, we investigated whether RSV affects their antiviral effector functions. METHODS: We assessed the phenotype and functionality of primary neonatal and adult NK cells by flow cytometry after stimulation with RSV or RSV-antibody complexes. RESULTS: We demonstrate for the first time that RSV infects neonatal and adult NK cells in vitro. Preincubation of virus with subneutralizing concentrations of RSV-specific antibodies significantly increased the percentage of infected NK cells. Upon infection, NK cells were significantly more prone to produce interferon-γ, while secretion of the cytotoxicity molecule perforin was not enhanced. CONCLUSIONS: Our findings suggest that (antibody-enhanced) RSV infection of NK cells induces a proinflammatory rather than a cytotoxic response, which may contribute to immunopathology. Considering that most RSV vaccines currently being developed aim at inducing (maternal) antibodies, these results highlight the importance of understanding the interactions between innate effector cells and virus-specific antibodies.

Mechanism and role of MCP-1 upregulation upon chikungunya virus infection in human peripheral blood mononuclear cells.

Monocyte chemoattractant protein-1 (MCP-1/CCL2)-mediated migration of monocytes is essential for immunological surveillance of tissues. During chikungunya virus (CHIKV) infection however, excessive production of MCP-1 has been linked to disease pathogenesis. High MCP-1 serum levels are detected during the viremic phase of CHIKV infection and correlate with the virus titre. In vitro CHIKV infection was also shown to stimulate MCP-1 production in whole blood; yet the role and the mechanism of MCP-1 production upon infection of human peripheral blood mononuclear cells remain unknown. Here we found that active CHIKV infection stimulated production of MCP-1 in monocytes. Importantly however, we found that communication with other leukocytes is crucial to yield MCP-1 by monocytes upon CHIKV infection. Indeed, blocking interferon-α/ß receptor or the JAK1/JAK2 signalling downstream of the receptor abolished CHIKV-mediated MCP-1 production. Additionally, we show that despite the apparent correlation between IFN type I, CHIKV replication and MCP-1, modulating the levels of the chemokine did not influence CHIKV infection. In summary, our data disclose the complexity of MCP-1 regulation upon CHIKV infection and point to a crucial role of IFNß in the chemokine secretion. We propose that balance between these soluble factors is imperative for an appropriate host response to CHIKV infection.

Seroconversion to HCoV-NL63 in Rhesus Macaques.

HCoV-NL63 is a recently identified respiratory virus. Its pathogenesis has not been fully unraveled because an animal model is currently lacking. Here we examined whether rhesus macaques encounter HCoV-NL63 infections during life, by examining the levels of antibodies to HCoV-NL63 in time. The animals were followed for 7 up till 19 years, and in three animals we observed a steep rise in antibodies during follow up, indicative of a natural infection with HCoV-NL63.