SARS-coronavirus replication in human peripheral monocytes/macrophages

A novel coronavirus (CoV) has been described in association with cases of severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS). The virus, SARS-CoV, differs from the previously described human coronaviruses, 229E and OC43. 229E was previously shown to productively infect human monocytes/macrophages, whereas OC43 poorly infected the cells. In this study, we examined whether SARS-CoV could productively infect purified monocytes/macrophages (PM) derived from human donor cells. Unlike 229E-infected cells, which produced viral titers of 103.5 to 106 TCID50/ml, SARS-CoV replicated poorly in PM, producing titers of 101.75 to 102 TCID50/ml. This finding was similar to results reported for OC43-infected cells, with titers ranging from 101.2 to 102.7 TCID50/ml. Of interest, SARS-CoV proteins were detected only in PM that did not produce significant amounts of interferon (IFN)-α, and in one such case, preliminary electron microscope studies demonstrated that SARS-CoV-like particles could enter the cells, possibly via phagocytosis. These results suggest that SARS-CoV, like human CoV OC43, poorly infects human PM, and production of IFN-α by these cells further limits the infection. Given the importance of monocytes/macrophages to the immune response, it is possible that their infection by SARS-CoV and alteration of this infection by IFN-α may be important to the course of the infection in humans.