Abstract
Eosinophils, along with neutrophils and basophils, belong to a group of leukocytes known as granulocytes. They have primarily been associated with host defense against parasitic infections and with certain pathologies such as asthma. However, eosinophils contain and produce a number of molecules that are associated with antiviral activity and can also participate in adaptive immune responses by serving as antigen-presenting cells. In this issue of Viral Immunology, Flores-Torres and colleagues review the potential role of eosinophils in responses to respiratory virus infections. They discuss evidence that eosinophils can play both a positive role in the control of viral infections and, in some circumstances, a negative role by eliciting damaging responses against the host. The authors note that more studies are needed to fully understand the relationship between eosinophils and respiratory viruses during certain conditions, like asthma.
In another review article in this issue of Viral Immunology, Amirpour-Rostami and Arababad discuss the role of cytokine risk factors for chronic hepatitis B disease. The authors note that although we are learning a great deal about the host immune responses to the hepatitis B virus, the underlying mechanisms that lead to chronic inflammation remain to be clarified. In this article, they discuss the potential role of interleukin (IL)-18 and IL-1β (members of the IL-1 family that are produced by a wide range of immune and nonimmune cells and activated by inflammasome pathways) in the pathology of chronic hepatitis B.
Finally, three additional articles in this issue address different aspects of the immune response to viral infection. Dhaouadi and colleagues note that autoantibodies from hepatitis C virus (HCV) patients exhibit an immunofluorescence characterized by cytoplasmic rods and rings. They have investigated the prevalence of antirod/ring antibodies before and after ribavirin therapy and demonstrate an association with HCV viral loads. Bi et al. have used a pepscan approach using Newcastle disease virus (NDV)-specific chicken antisera to map linear B cell immunodominant epitopes of the NDV matrix protein. The authors identified two dominant epitopes of the matrix protein that provide fundamental information about the antigenic features of the protein. Finally, Chandana and colleagues undertook a retrospective cross-sectional study to assess the immune response to influenza A(H1N1)pdm09 virus after natural infection. The authors report rises in hemagglutinin inhibition titers after infection with no change in the pre-existing titers of antibodies specific for influenza A(H3N2) or influenza B viruses.
I would like to thank all of the authors for their exciting contributions to the Journal and all of the reviewers for their help in ensuring the high quality of the articles accepted for publication.