Host Components Contributing to Respiratory Syncytial Virus Pathogenesis

Abstract

Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) is the most prevalent viral etiological agent of acute respiratory tract infection. Although RSV affects people of all ages, the disease is more severe in infants and causes significant morbidity and hospitalization in young children and in the elderly. Host factors, including an immature immune system in infants, low lymphocyte levels in patients under 5 years old, and low levels of RSV-specific neutralizing antibodies in the blood of adults over 65 years of age, can explain the high susceptibility to RSV infection in these populations. Other host factors that correlate with severe RSV disease include high concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines such as interleukins (IL)-6, IL-8, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and thymic stromal lymphopoitein (TSLP), which are produced in the respiratory tract of RSV-infected individuals, accompanied by a strong neutrophil response. In addition, data from studies of RSV infections in humans and in animal models revealed that this virus suppresses adaptive immune responses that could eliminate it from the respiratory tract. Here, we examine host factors that contribute to RSV pathogenesis based on an exhaustive review of in vitro infection in humans and in animal models to provide insights into the design of vaccines and therapeutic tools that could prevent diseases caused by RSV.

The Role of Dendritic Cells During Infections Caused by Highly Prevalent Viruses

“…The disease caused by hRSV is characterized mainly by the infiltration of eosinophils and neutrophils into the airways. An increase infiltration of neutrophils can contribute to lung damage ( 210 – 212 ). Even though CD8 + T cells are key in the clearance of the virus, it has been reported that the depletion of the CD4 + and CD8 + T cells in mice decreased the severity of the illness ( 213 – 215 ).…”

Multiepitope-Based Subunit Vaccine Design and Evaluation against Respiratory Syncytial Virus Using Reverse Vaccinology Approach

“…The G, F, and SH proteins are envelope proteins. The P, N, M, M2, and L proteins are present just below the envelope [4,5]. The virus binds to the host cell surface using F-protein which later directs its entry into the cell leading towards syncytia formation [6].…”

Human Respiratory Syncytial Virus-Induced Immune Signature of Infection Revealed by Transcriptome Analysis of Clinical Pediatric Nasopharyngeal Swab Samples

“…Regardless of the studied tissue, HRSV is consensually described as a major disruptor of the host immune response [47][48][49]. Here, comparing our signatures with 3 other ones extracted from pediatric whole blood transcriptomic analyses [28][29][30], we highlighted the common deregulation of 7 genes, independently of the tissue, and interestingly, 242 genes that seem to be specific to nasal epithelium HRSV-induced gene expression.…”