【Animal Modeling】-Comparison of Two Ways of Respiratory Infection to Establish Mouse Influenza Virus Infection Model

  Objective To explore the differences in the establishment of mouse influenza virus infection models through two different respiratory tract infection methods, and to provide reference for the selection of appropriate animal infection models for the study of influenza virus pathogenesis and the development of vaccines and drugs.

  Methods The A/Puerto Rico/8/34 (H1N1) virus strain was selected, and C57BL/6 mice were infected by intranasal and aerosol methods. The mice were weighed every day, and the clinical symptoms of the mice were observed with naked eyes. , 7 and 14 days, the mice were sacrificed, and the lungs were taken and weighed, and the virus detection, pathological observation and determination of cytokines in the lung were carried out.

  RESULTS: Both infection methods could successfully establish influenza virus mouse models, and the overall trend of disease progression was basically the same, but there were certain differences in the infection characteristics of the two groups of mouse influenza models. Compared with the nasal drop infection group, the weight loss in the aerosol infection group appeared earlier, and the lung index and viral load were significantly increased on the 3rd day after infection (P<0.05), and the extent of the lesion and the degree of infiltration of inflammatory cytokines were also significantly increased. Levels of cytokines II-1α and IL-6 in the lungs were significantly increased on the 3rd and 7th days after infection (P<0.05), and TNF-α was significantly increased on the 7th day after infection (P<0.05).

  Conclusion Both infection methods can establish a mouse influenza model. The model established by aerosol infection can cause obvious inflammatory infiltration and cytokine expression in the lungs in the early stage of infection, which is an ideal influenza virus infection animal model.