Rhinovirus infection in murine chronic allergic rhinosinusitis model

Patients with chronic rhinosinusitis (CRS) commonly experience aggravation of their symptoms after viral upper respiratory infection (URI). Rhinovirus (RV) is the most common URI-causing virus. However, there is a lack of a mouse model of RV infection and in vivo studies investigating the effect of RV infection on CRS.

A mouse model of chronic allergic rhinosinusitis (CARS) was established by sensitizing to ovalbumin (OVA) through intraperitoneal injection followed by nasal challenges with OVA for 5 weeks. Both control and CARS mice were euthanized at 48 hours after infection with minor group RV serotype 1B (RV1B). Sinonasal complex samples were evaluated histologically; and interleukin (IL)-6, macrophage inflammatory protein (MIP)-2, IL-13, tumor necrosis factor (TNF)-α, and interferon (IFN)-γ were measured in the nasal lavage fluid. The RV1B-infected areas in control and CARS mice were identified using immunofluorescence.

In the infected control mice group, RV1B increased secretory hyperplasia in the sinonasal mucosa and the production of proinflammatory cytokines including INF-γ, MIP-2, and IL-13. Immunohistochemical analysis of nasal mucosa from RV1B-infected mice presented abundant RV1B staining, which was distributed between the epithelium and the lamina propria. In the CARS group, the RV1B-infected area per unit was significantly higher than that in control mice. However, RV1B infection neither increased the proinflammatory cytokine secretion nor worsened the histology significantly.

We successfully established a mouse model of upper airway RV infection by nasal inoculation with RV1B. Although there was histologically-proven increased RV infection in the CARS model, the infection did not intensify sinonasal inflammation.