Dictionary of Allergies .. Adenovirus and asthma

Respiratory viral infections can influence the course of asthma at different time points. Severe respiratory viral infections during early age are associated with a higher prevalence of asthma in later childhood. In established asthma, viral infections are a frequent cause of asthma exacerbation. Animal data suggest that the link between respiratory viral infections and increased asthma is causally related, the viral infection acting on the immune and structural cells to enhance antigen presentation and inflammatory cell recruitment[1]..

A number of investigations have linked respiratory viral infections and the intensity and subsequent exacerbation of asthma through host response mechanisms. For example, it is likely that the immune-inflammatory response to respiratory syncytial virus can cause a predisposition toward an intense inflammatory reaction associated with asthma, and adenovirus might cause exacerbation of the immune response associated with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. In each of these situations, the host's immune response plays a critical mechanistic role through the production of certain cytokines and chemokines. Specific aspects of these augmented immune responses are determined by the biology of the virus, the genetic variability of the host, and the cytokine-chemokine phenotype of the involved tissue. For instance, the type 1/type 2 cytokine ratio in the airways during infection with rhinovirus determines how long the viral infection endures. By this same theory, it has been demonstrated that chemokine levels produced during respiratory syncytial virus infection determine host responses to later immune stimuli in the lung, with the potential to augment the asthmatic response. Further research in this area will clarify cytokines, chemokines, or cell targets, which will provide the basis for next-generation therapies[2].

References

1. van Rijt LS, van Kessel CH, Boogaard I, Lambrecht BN. Respiratory viral infections and asthma pathogenesis: a critical role for dendritic cells? J Clin Virol. 2005 Nov;34(3):161-9. Epub 2005 Aug 26.
2.Schaller M, Hogaboam CM, Lukacs N, Kunkel SL. Respiratory viral infections drive chemokine expression and exacerbate the asthmatic response. J Allergy Clin Immunol. 2006 Aug;118(2):295-302; quiz 303-4.