Recent Progress in Nasal Physiology

Effect of Influenza Virus on Cilia and Epithelial Cells in the Bronchi of Mice

“…Particular attention was given to cilia because of the histologic evidence that influenza viral infection of the mouse causes necrosis of the bronchial epithelium (I-8). In addition, it has bccn shown that ciliary action removes foreign particles from the respiratory passages and therefore probably serves as an important mechanism of nativc resistance to bacterial infection of the respiratory tract (9)(10)(11)(12)(13)(14)(15)(16)(17)(18)(19)(20). I When severe infection with influenza virus was induced in mice, it was found that active ciliary beat persisted in the bronchi of involved lungs and that cilia could be shown to be present in stained sections of the viral lesion.…”