How influenza virus infection might lead to gastrointestinal symptoms

Human influenza viruses replicate almost exclusively in the respiratory tract, yet infected individuals may also have gastrointestinal symptoms such as vomiting and diarrhea. In mice, intestinal injury occurs in the absence of viral replication, and is a consequence of viral depletion of the gut microbiota. Intranasal inoculation of mice with the PR8 strain of influenza virus leads to injury of both the lung and the intestinal tract, the latter accompanied by mild diarrhea. While influenza virus clearly replicates in the lung of infected mice, no replication was observed in the intestinal tract. Therefore injury of the gut takes place in the absence of viral replication. Replication of influenza virus in the lung of mice was associated with alteration in the populations of bacteria in the intestine. The numbers of segmented filamentous bacteria (SFB) and Lactobacillus/Lactococcus decreased, while numbers of Enterobacteriaceae increased, including E. coli. Depletion of gut bacteria by antibiotic treatment had no effect on virus-induced lung injury, but protected the intestine from damage. Transferring Enterobacteriaceae from virus-infected mice to uninfected animals lead to intestinal injury, as did inoculating mice intragastrically with E. coli. To understand why influenza virus infection in the lung can alter the gut microbiota, the authors examined immune cells in the gut. They found that Mice lacking the cytokine IL-17A, which is produced by Th17 helper T cells, did not ...
Source: virology blog - Category: Virology Authors: Tags: Basic virology Information CD4 common mucosal immune system diarrhea gastrointestinal gut influenza interferon intestine microbiome T helper cells Th17 cells viral virus vomiting Source Type: blogs