Influenza A Virus Utilizes the Nasolacrimal System to Establish Respiratory Infection after Ocular Exposure in the Swine Model.

ABSTRACT: Influenza A virus (IAV) can rapidly disseminate among animals through various transmission routes, with emerging evidence suggesting the ocular surface as an important entrance. However, it remains unclear how the virus invades the respiratory tract after ocular exposure. Here, we demonstrated that H1N1 (A/swine/Guangdong/1/2011) utilizes the nasolacrimal system to rapidly spread from the ocular surface to the respiratory tract in the porcine model. In vivo and ex vivo, IAV could efficiently attach and replicate in conjunctiva epithelium, which has abundance of α-2,6-linked and α-2,3-linked sialic acid. After ocular inoculation, infectious virions swiftly migrate to the nasolacrimal duct of piglets and, via continual drainage, disseminate to the respiratory trac

SUBMITTER: Li S 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12016754 | biostudies-literature | 2024

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature