Alcohol potentiates RSV-mediated injury to ciliated airway epithelium

Abstract Alcohol impairs resolution of respiratory viral infections. Numerous immune response pathways are altered in response to alcohol misuse, including alcohol-induced ciliary dysfunction in the lung. We hypothesized that mucociliary clearance-mediated innate immunity to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) would be compromised by alcohol exposure. Cilia were assayed using Sisson-Ammons Video Analysis by quantitating the average number of motile points in multiple whole field measurements of mouse tracheal epithelial cells grown on air-liquid interface. Pretreatment with ethanol alone (100 mM for 24 hr) had no effect on the number of motile cilia. A single dose (TCID 50 1 x 10 5 ) of RSV resulted in a significant (p ad libitum (20% for 12 wk) were infected once with RSV and clearance measured by plaque forming assay from lung homogenates for up to 7 days. After 3 days, RSV plaque formation was no longer detected from lung of control mice, while significant (p