Oral and Poster Manuscripts

摘要

Pandemic influenza H1N1 (H1N1pdm) virus of swine-origincauses mild disease, but occasionally is associated withacute respiratory distress syndrome and death.1,2 It isimportant to understand the pathogenesis of this new disease.Previously we showed a comparable virus tropismand host innate immune responses between H1N1pdm andseasonal H1N1 influenza virus in the human respiratorytract,3 however H1N1pdm virus differed from seasonalH1N1 influenza virus in its ability to replicate in humanconjunctiva, suggesting subtle differences in receptor-bindingprofile and highlighting the potential role of the conjunctivaas an additional route of infection. We nowcompare the tropism and host responses elicited by pandemicH1N1 with that of related swine influenza virusesand a pandemic-swine reassortant virus in ex vivo and invitro cultures of the human respiratory tract and conjunctiva.We have used recombinant virus to investigate therole of the hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA)of H1N1pdm virus in its conjunctival tropism. These findingsare relevant for understanding transmission and therapy.