title: Severe seasonal influenza in ferrets correlates with reduced interferon and increased IL-6 induction.
abstract: Even though ferrets are one of the principal animal models for influenza pathogenesis, the lack of suitable immunological reagents has so far limited their use in host response studies. Using recently established real-time PCR assays for a panel of ferret cytokines, we analyzed the local ferret immune response to human influenza isolates of the H1N1 and H3N2 subtypes that varied in their virulence. We observed that the severity of clinical signs correlated with gross- and histopathological changes in the lungs and was subtype-independent. Strains causing a mild disease were associated with a strong and rapid innate response and upregulation of IL-8, while severe infections were characterized by a lesser induction of type I and II interferons and strong IL-6 upregulation. These findings suggest that more virulent strains may interfere more efficiently with the host response at early disease stages.
authors.affiliation: INRS-Institut Armand-Frappier, University of Quebec, Laval, QC, Canada.
authors.forename: Nicholas
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Svitek
authors.forename: Penny A
authors.initials: PA
authors.lastname: Rudd
authors.forename: Karola
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Obojes
authors.forename: Stéphane
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pillet
authors.forename: Veronika
authors.initials: V
authors.lastname: von Messling
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001831:Body Temperature; D001835:Body Weight; D005289:Ferrets; D020869:Gene Expression Profiling; D053118:Influenza A Virus, H1N1 Subtype / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D053122:Influenza A Virus, H3N2 Subtype / Q000254:growth & development / Q000276:immunology*; D007372:Interferons / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D015850:Interleukin-6 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology*; D016209:Interleukin-8 / Q000235:genetics / Q000276:immunology; D008168:Lung / Q000473:pathology / Q000821:virology; D008297:Male; D008969:Molecular Sequence Data; D009976:Orthomyxoviridae Infections / Q000276:immunology* / Q000821:virology; D012621:Seasons; D012720:Severity of Illness Index
chemical_list: D015850:Interleukin-6; D016209:Interleukin-8; D007372:Interferons