Acute respiratory infection with mouse adenovirus type 1

Studies of the pathogenesis of adenovirus respiratory disease are limited by the strict species-specificity of the adenoviruses. Following intranasal inoculation of adult C57BL/6 mice with mouse adenovirus type 1 (MAV-1), we detected MAV-1 early region 3 (E3) and hexon gene expression in the lungs at 7 days post-infection (dpi). We detected MAV-1 E3 protein in the respiratory epithelium at 7 dpi. We did not detect viral mRNA or protein at 14 dpi, but MAV-1 DNA was detected by PCR at 21 dpi. Chemokine transcript levels increased between 7 and 14 dpi in the lungs of infected mice. MAV-1 infection induced a patchy cellular infiltrate in lungs at 7 and 14 dpi. This is the first report demonstrating the presence of MAV-1 in the respiratory epithelium of infected mice and describing chemokine responses in the lung induced by MAV-1 respiratory infection. MAV-1 infection of mice has the potential to serve as a model for inflammatory changes seen in human adenovirus respiratory disease.