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Arch Virol
; 151(7): 1423-9, 2006 Jul.
Article
in English
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-16489506
ABSTRACT
Murine gammaherpesvirus 68 (gammaHV-68) was found to induce IL-6 secretion following in vitro infection of macrophages, but not cultured dendritic or epithelial cells. A detectable, but very limited IL-6 response was observed in the lungs and mediastinal lymph nodes following intranasal infection. Surprisingly, no detectable in vivo IL-6 production was observed in the spleen or sera of infected mice despite observable systemic leukocytosis. These studies demonstrate that endogenous IL-6 production contributes little to the host response, or to the viral-induced mononucleosis-like disease, due to the fact that limiting amounts of this cytokine are produced in vivo during gammaHV-68 infection.