Nasal secretion protein responses in patients with wild-type adenovirus disease

Proteins were studied in nasal secretions obtained from Marine Corps trainees infected with wild adenovirus type 7 both during the acute phase of illness and after recovery. Illness was associated with a marked increase in the concentration of serum proteins in the secretions, and during inflammation there was no apparent barrier to the passage of large molecules (molecular weight 775,000) from the serum into the respiratory passages. At the time of virus isolation, trainees requiring hospitalization had less immunoglobulin A (IgA) in their secretions even though they had greater quantities of immunoglobin G (P < 0.05) and albumin than trainees followed in the field, whose secretions were also tested at the time of virus isolation. Base-line IgA and protein concentrations were lower (P < 0.05) in hospitalized trainees than in trainees followed prospectively in the field. The results suggest a nonspecific protective function for secretion protein, although we have not excluded the possibility that field study trainees were protected by specific neutralizing antibody present in the nasal secretion.