Evidence map›Paper›PMID 34542243›Full record

ArticlePhysiological reports2021

Diesel exposure increases susceptibility of primary human nasal epithelial cells to rhinovirus infection.

Loretta Müller, Jakob Usemann, Marco P Alves, Philipp Latzin

Open access · goldAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Physiological reports, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 4 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
4citing papers in PubMed
0.3field-weighted citation impact, top 42% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

4 citing papers in PubMed, 7 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. The triple-hit hypothesis: exploring pulmonary e-cigarette, PMEuropean respiratory review : an official journal of the European Respiratory Society · 2026
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4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors at 1 institution in 2 countries.

Loretta MüllerDivision of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Paediatrics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-3145-1483
Jakob UsemannDivision of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Paediatrics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.ORCID 0000-0002-9987-2866
Marco P AlvesInstitute of Virology and Immunology, Bern, Switzerland.
Philipp LatzinDivision of Paediatric Respiratory Medicine and Allergology, Department of Paediatrics, Inselspital, Bern University Hospital, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland.
University of Bern · CH

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Nasal epithelial cells (NECs) are among the first cells to be exposed to air pollutants and respiratory viruses. Although it is known that air pollution exposure and rhinovirus infections increase the risk for asthma development independently, it is unclear how these risk factors interact on a cellular level. Therefore, we aimed to investigate how exposure to diesel particulate matter (DPM) modifies the response of primary NECs to rhinovirus (RV) infection in vitro. Exposure of re-differentiated, primary NECs (49 healthy children [0-7 years], 12 adults) to DPM modified the mRNA expression of viral cell-surface receptors, pattern recognition receptors, and pro-inflammatory response (also protein levels). After exposure to DPM, we additionally infected the NECs with RV-1b and RV-16. Viral loads (assessed by titration assays) were significantly higher in DPM-exposed compared with non-exposed NECs. Exposure to DPM prior to RV infection resulted in a significant upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines (mRNA and protein level) and β-defensins mRNA, and significant downregulation of pattern recognition receptors mRNA and CXCL10 (mRNA and protein levels). There was no difference between all outcomes of NECs from children and adults. We can conclude that exposure to DPM prior to RV infection increases viral loads by downregulation of viral defense receptors and upregulation of pro-inflammatory cytokines. Our findings indicate a strong interaction between air pollution and the antiviral response to RV infection in NECs. We provide mechanistic evidence that exposure to air pollution increases susceptibility to RV infection.

Indexed as

AdultAir PollutantsCells, CulturedChemokine CXCL10ChildChild, PreschoolHumansInfantNasal MucosaParticulate MatterPicornaviridae InfectionsRhinovirusVehicle EmissionsAir PollutantsChemokine CXCL10CXCL10 protein, humanParticulate MatterVehicle Emissionsadultsair-liquid-interface cell cultureair pollutionchildrenrespiratory infection

Identifiers

PMID34542243
PMCPMC8451029
OpenAlexW3200965792

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.