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Updated: Jan 4, 2026
Murine Model of Allergen Induced Asthma
Published on: May 14, 2012
Respiratory syncytial virus increases eosinophil extracellular traps in a murine model of asthma
Josiane Silva Silveira1, Géssica Luana Antunes2, Rodrigo Benedetti Gassen3
1Department of Biochemistry, Laboratory of Neuroprotection and Neurometabolic Disease, Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), Porto Alegre, Brazil.
Background:
Respiratory viral infections are the leading cause of asthma exacerbations. Eosinophil activation results in the formation of eosinophil extracellular traps (EETs), which release web-like structures of DNA and proteins that bind, disarm and extracellularly kill pathogens.
Objective:
We investigated whether the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) in vitro could induce EETs in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophils in a murine model of asthma.
Methods:
BALB/cJ mice (6-8 weeks old) were sensitized with 2 subcutaneous injections of ovalbumin (20 μg) on days 0 and 7, followed by three intranasal challenges with ovalbumin (100 μg) on days 14, 15, and 16 of the protocol. The control group received Dulbecco's phosphate-buffered saline. Bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophils of ovalbumin group or control group were stimulated with RSV (103 PFU/mL) in vitro for 3 hours. After that, culture supernatant was collected to perform the analyses proposed in this study.
Results:
We verified an increase in extracellular DNA concentration in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid eosinophils from ovalbumin group stimulated with RSV (103 PFU/mL) in vitro, which was confirmed by confocal microscopy. We demonstrated that most cells are negative for annexin V and propidium iodide in all groups evaluated. Also, RSV in vitro decreased interferon-ɣ in culture supernatant when compared to the ovalbumin group.
Conclusion:
In this study, we demonstrated for the first time that RSV in vitro induces EETs formation in eosinophils from asthmatic mice.
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