Holgate S T
Médecine Universitaire, Southampton General Hospital, Angleterre.
Allerg Immunol (Paris). 1997 Mar;29(3):75-6; discussion 82.
Respiratory virus are the most frequent cause of asthma attacks, and are responsible for more than 80% of episodes of wheezing in children. Atopic subjects have a higher risk of respiratory virus infections, benign or severe, than healthy persons. In children older than 8 years, most respiratory infections are caused by rhinovirus (RV). RV colonizes the respiratory epithelium and provokes a symptomatic rhinitis by non-inflammatory routes (with non involvement of leucocytes). In the nose the most importance of these routes are nerves. In the lower respiratory airways, infection with RV causes an inflammatory reaction with persistence of eosinophils. IL-8 and the other cytokines produced by the infected epithelium extend the action of eosinophils and the inflammatory reaction. The viral/inflammatory pathway is an important new target for development of strategies for the prevention of asthma.
呼吸道病毒是哮喘发作最常见的原因，在儿童喘息发作中占比超过80%。与健康人相比，特应性个体发生良性或严重呼吸道病毒感染的风险更高。在8岁以上儿童中，大多数呼吸道感染由鼻病毒（RV）引起。RV定植于呼吸道上皮，通过非炎症途径（不涉及白细胞）引发症状性鼻炎。在鼻腔中，这些途径最重要的是神经。在下呼吸道，RV感染会引起伴有嗜酸性粒细胞持续存在的炎症反应。感染的上皮细胞产生的白细胞介素-8和其他细胞因子会延长嗜酸性粒细胞的作用和炎症反应。病毒/炎症途径是开发哮喘预防策略的一个重要新靶点。
