Epithelial cell dysfunction may explain why people with asthma fare worse than most when infected with common cold viruses. Wark and colleagues show on page 937 that bronchial epithelial cells from asthma sufferers fail to invoke critical antiviral defenses but still provoke inflammation when infected with rhinoviruses—an ideal combination for asthma induction.
Respiratory virus infections often trigger asthma attacks, and these infections are more severe in asthma sufferers than in healthy individuals. Past studies have demonstrated increased virus replication in asthmatic versus healthy subjects and suggested that alterations in cytokine production that favor asthma-promoting T helper (Th)-2 responses might be to blame.
Wark and colleagues now uncover a defect that may provide the initial trigger for virus-induced asthma. They found that bronchial epithelial cells—the primary targets of viral infection—from asthma sufferers supported more virus replication than did cells from healthy controls. The reason for this...
