title: Vitamin C Is an Essential Factor on the Anti-viral Immune Responses through the Production of Interferon-α/β at the Initial Stage of Influenza A Virus (H3N2) Infection.
abstract: L-ascorbic acid (vitamin C) is one of the well-known anti-viral agents, especially to influenza virus. Since the in vivo anti-viral effect is still controversial, we investigated whether vitamin C could regulate influenza virus infection in vivo by using Gulo (-/-) mice, which cannot synthesize vitamin C like humans. First, we found that vitamin C-insufficient Gulo (-/-) mice expired within 1 week after intranasal inoculation of influenza virus (H3N2/Hongkong). Viral titers in the lung of vitamin C-insufficient Gulo (-/-) mice were definitely increased but production of anti-viral cytokine, interferon (IFN)-α/β, was decreased. On the contrary, the infiltration of inflammatory cells into the lung and production of pro-inflammatory cytokines, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α and interleukin (IL)-α/β, were increased in the lung. Taken together, vitamin C shows in vivo anti-viral immune responses at the early time of infection, especially against influenza virus, through increased production of IFN-α/β.
authors.affiliation: Laboratory of Anti-oxidant Immunology and Vitamin C, Department of Anatomy, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul 110-799, Korea.
authors.forename: Yejin
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Hyemin
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Kim
authors.forename: Seyeon
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Bae
authors.forename: Jiwon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Choi
authors.forename: Sun Young
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Lim
authors.forename: Naeun
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Lee
authors.forename: Joo Myung
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Kong
authors.forename: Young-Il
authors.initials: YI
authors.lastname: Hwang
authors.forename: Jae Seung
authors.initials: JS
authors.lastname: Kang
authors.forename: Wang Jae
authors.initials: WJ
authors.lastname: Lee
keywords: Anti-viral immune response; Gulo (-/-) mice; Influenza A virus; Vitamin C