Phenotypic modulation and cytokine profiles of antigen presenting cells by European subtype 1 and 3 porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus strains in vitro and in vivo

Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) causes continuous problems in the pig industry, due to high costs of outbreaks and reduced welfare of diseased pigs. The severity of infection is, partly, dependent on the virus strain. Recently isolated Eastern-European subtype 3 strains are more pathogenic than the widespread subtype 1 strains. There is, however, almost no information available about the mechanisms involved in the pathogenicity of these subtype 3 strains. The objective of the present study was to characterize the in vitro and in vivo response of two European subtype 1 strains, Belgium A and Lelystad-Ter Huurne (LV), and a virulent subtype 3 strain, Lena, in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells (BM-DC) (in vitro) and alveolar macrophages (in vitro and in vivo). It was shown that infection with the Lena strain resulted in a higher apoptosis of cells in vitro and a higher level of infectivity in vitro and in vivo than the other virus strains. Furthermore, infection with Lena resulted in a small downregulation of the immunologically relevant cell surface molecules SLA-I, SLA-II and CD80/86 in vitro, and SLA-II in vivo. In spite of these differences, in vitro cytokine responses did not differ significantly between strains, except for the absence of IL-10 production by Lena in BM-DC. The higher infectivity, apoptosis and downregulation of the cell surface molecules, may have contributed to the increased pathogenicity of Lena, and have dampened specific immune responses. This could explain the delayed and decreased adaptive immune responses observed after infections with this strain.