Azithromycin mitigates human rhinovirus impact on barrier integrity and function in non-diseased airway epithelium.

Introduction: Azithromycin improves symptomology in various chronic airway diseases exacerbated by viral infections. However, the mechanisms underlying the apparent antiviral effects of azithromycin remain unclear. Methods: Airway epithelial cells from healthy children were cultured, expanded and differentiated into air-liquid interface cultures. Submerged and differentiated primary cultures were treated with 10 µM of AZM for 24 h and subsequently infected with human rhinovirus (HRV)-1b for 24 h. Virus receptor expression, replication, progeny release and inflammatory cytokines (IL-1β, -6, -8 and IP-10) were then measured. Barrier integrity was determined via qPCR, in-cell western (ICW), immunofluorescence confocal microscopy, confocal microscopy, transepithelial electrical resistance (R Results: Treatment with AZM for 24 h at the concentrations of 0.1, 1 and 10 µM did not have any significant impact on either cellular viability or cytotoxicity in un-infected cells. No significant effect on viral receptor, cytokine expression was observed in non-infected cells treated with 10 µM AZM. Similarly, there was no significant change in both occludin and ZO-1 expression in non-infected cells. However, Discussions: This study identified that AZM can protect against HRV-1b-induced epithelial damage. Our data, demonstrating the antiviral, anti-inflammatory, and barrier-protective effects