AUTHOR=Jubrail Jamil , Africano-Gomez Kshanti , Herit Floriane , Baturcam Engin , Mayer Gaell , Cunoosamy Danen Mootoosamy , Kurian Nisha , Niedergang Florence 

TITLE=HRV16 Impairs Macrophages Cytokine Response to a Secondary Bacterial Trigger

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Immunology

VOLUME=Volume 9 - 2018

YEAR=2018

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/immunology/articles/10.3389/fimmu.2018.02908

DOI=10.3389/fimmu.2018.02908

ISSN=1664-3224

ABSTRACT=Human rhinovirus is frequently seen as an upper respiratory tract infection but growing evidence proves the virus can cause lower respiratory tract infections in patients with chronic inflammatory lung diseases including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). In addition to airway epithelial cells, macrophages are crucial for regulating inflammatory responses to viral infections. However, the response of macrophages to HRV has not been analysed in detail. We used in vitro monocyte-derived human macrophages to study the cytokine secretion of macrophages in response to the virus. Our results showed that macrophages were competent at responding to HRV as a strong and robust cytokine response was detected. However, after subsequent exposure to nontypeable Haemophilus influenzae (NTHi), HRV-treated macrophages had reduced levels of pro-inflammatory or regulatory cytokines. These results begin to deepen our understanding into why patients with COPD show HRV-induced exacerbations and why they mount a defective response towards NTHi.