Protective Intranasal Immunization Against Influenza Virus in Infant Mice Is Dependent on IL-6.

ABSTRACT: Respiratory diseases adversely affect infants and are the focus of efforts to develop vaccinations and other modalities to prevent disease. The infant immune system differs from that of older children and adults in many ways that are as yet ill understood. We have used a C57BL/6 mouse model of infection with a laboratory- adapted strain of influenza (PR8) to delineate the importance of the cytokine IL-6 in the innate response to primary infection and in the development of protective immunity in adult mice. Herein, we used this same model in infant (14 days of age) mice to determine the effect of IL-6 deficiency. Infant wild type mice are more susceptible than older mice to infection, similar to the findings in humans. IL-6 is expressed in the lung in the early response to PR8 infection. Wh

SUBMITTER: Bonney EA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7656064 | biostudies-literature | 2020

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature