Division of Child Health, Department of Women's and Children's Health, Royal Liverpool, Alder Hey Children's Hospital, UK.
J Infect Dis. 2011 Aug 1;204(3):451-8. doi: 10.1093/infdis/jir280.
Neutrophils are the predominant cell in the lung inflammatory infiltrate of infants with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis. Although it has previously been shown that neutrophils from both blood and bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) are activated, little is understood about their role in response to RSV infection. This study investigated whether RSV proteins and mRNA are present in neutrophils from blood and BAL of infected infants.
We obtained blood and BAL samples from 20 infants with severe RSV bronchiolitis and 8 healthy control infants. Neutrophil RSV F, G, and N proteins, RSV N genomic RNA, and messenger RNA (mRNA) were quantified.
RSV proteins were found in BAL and blood neutrophils in infants with RSV disease but not in neutrophils from healthy infants. BAL and blood neutrophils from infants with RSV disease, but not those from healthy infants, expressed RSV N genomic RNA, indicating uptake of whole virus; 17 of 20 BAL and 8 of 9 blood neutrophils from patients expressed RSV N mRNA.
This work shows, for the first time, the presence of RSV proteins and mRNA transcripts within BAL and blood neutrophils from infants with severe RSV bronchiolitis.
呼吸道合胞病毒（RSV）毛细支气管炎患儿的肺部炎症浸润中以中性粒细胞为主。虽然先前已经表明血液和支气管肺泡灌洗液（BAL）中的中性粒细胞均被激活，但对于它们在 RSV 感染中的作用知之甚少。本研究旨在探究感染 RSV 的患儿血液和 BAL 中的中性粒细胞中是否存在 RSV 蛋白和 mRNA。
我们从 20 例重症 RSV 毛细支气管炎患儿和 8 例健康对照婴儿中获得了血液和 BAL 样本。定量检测了中性粒细胞中的 RSV F、G 和 N 蛋白、RSV N 基因组 RNA 和信使 RNA（mRNA）。
在 RSV 疾病患儿的 BAL 和血液中性粒细胞中发现了 RSV 蛋白，但在健康婴儿的中性粒细胞中未发现。与健康婴儿相比，患有 RSV 疾病的婴儿的 BAL 和血液中性粒细胞表达 RSV N 基因组 RNA，表明其摄取了完整的病毒；20 例 BAL 样本和 9 例血液样本中有 17 例和 8 例分别表达了 RSV N mRNA。
本研究首次证明了重症 RSV 毛细支气管炎患儿的 BAL 和血液中性粒细胞中存在 RSV 蛋白和 mRNA 转录本。
