Rhinovirus-induced PBMC responses and outcome of experimental infection inallergic subjects

Background: The immune response to rhinovirus (RV) infections is considered to contribute to upper respiratory symptoms and may also be an important c ontributor to lower airway dysfunction in patients with asthma. Objective: This study was conducted to determine the relationship of RV-spe cific responses in PBMCs to the outcome of experimentally induced infection with RV16. Methods: Twenty-two subjects with either allergic rhinitis or asthma were i noculated with RV16: virus-induced proliferation and cytokine production we re determined on PBMCs obtained before and then again 7 and 28 days after i noculation. Results: Several subjects had proliferative responses to RV16 before inocul ation, and precold RV-specific proliferative responses were inversely corre lated (r(s) = -0.62, P <.005) with RV shedding after inoculation. In additi on, there was a negative correlation (r(s) = -0.58, P = 0.01) between preco ld RV-induced IFN-gamma secretion ex vivo and peak RV shedding during the c old. Conclusions: Certain RV-specific lymphocyte responses before the fold (vigo rous proliferation or IFN-gamma secretion) were associated with reduced vir al shedding after inoculation. These Endings suggest that variations in mon onuclear cell responses to RV could contribute to the individual variabilit y in viral shedding during experimentally induced, and perhaps naturally ac quired, RV infections in subjects with respiratory allergy or asthma.