Expression of interferon-λ1 in respiratory epithelial cells of children with RSV infection and its relationship with RSV load

Abstract:

Objective To investigate the expression of IFN-λ1 in respiratory epithelial cells of children with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection and its relationship with RSV load. Methods The nasopharyngeal swabs were collected from the children who were hospitalized with respiratory tract infection from June 2015 to June 2016. A direct immunofluorescence assay was used to detect the antigens of seven common respiratory viruses (including RSV) in the nasopharyngeal swabs. A total of 120 children who were only RSV positive were selected as the RSV infection group. A total of 50 children who had negative results in the detection of all viral antigens were selected as the healthy control group. Fluorescence quantitative real-time PCR was used to determine the RSV load and the expression of IFN-λ1 mRNA in the nasopharyngeal swabs of children in the two groups. Results The expression of IFN-λ1 in the RSV infection group was significantly higher than that in the healthy control group (P < 0.05). The expression of IFN-λ1 was positively correlated with RSV load (r=0.56, P < 0.05). Conclusions RSV can induce the expression of IFN-λ1 in respiratory epithelial cells, suggesting that IFN-λ1 may play an important role in anti-RSV infection.