TY - JOUR T1 - Host response to mechanical ventilation for viral respiratory tract infection JF - European Respiratory Journal JO - Eur Respir J DO - 10.1183/09031936.00177111 SP - erj01771-2011 AU - Marije P Hennus AU - Riny Janssen AU - Jeroen LA Pennings AU - Hennie M Hodemaekers AU - Debby Kruijsen AU - Nicolaas J Jansen AU - Linde Meyaard AU - Adrianus J van Vught AU - Louis J Bont Y1 - 2012/01/01 UR - http://erj.ersjournals.com/content/early/2012/04/05/09031936.00177111.abstract N2 - Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis causes severe respiratory tract infection in infants, frequently necessitating mechanical ventilatory support. Although life-saving, mechanical ventilation aggravates lung inflammation. We set up a model to dissect the host molecular response to mechanical ventilation in RSV infection. Furthermore, the response to induced hypercapnic acidosis, reported to dampen the inflammatory response to mechanical ventilation in non-infectious models, was assessed.BALB/c mice were inoculated with RSV or mock-suspension and ventilated for 5 hours on day 5 post-inoculation.Mechanical ventilation of infected mice resulted in enhanced cellular influx and increased concentrations of proinflammatory cytokines in the bronchoalveolar space. Microarray analysis showed that enhanced inflammation was associated with a molecular signature of a stress response to mechanical ventilation with little effect on the virus-induced innate immune response. Hypercapnic acidosis during mechanical ventilation of infected mice did not change host transcript profiles.We conclude that mechanical ventilation during RSV infection adds a robust but distinct molecular stress response to virus-induced innate immunity activation emphasizing the importance of lung protective mechanical ventilation strategies. Induced hypercapnic acidosis has no major effect on host transcription profiles during mechanical ventilation for RSV infection, suggesting that this is a safe approach to minimize ventilator-induced lung injury. ER -