Aging shapes infection profiles of influenza A virus and SARS-CoV-2 in human precision-cut lung slices.

Abstract

Background: The coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak revealed the susceptibility of elderly patients to respiratory virus infections, showing cell senescence or subclinical persistent inflammatory profiles and favoring the development of severe pneumonia.

Methods: In our study, we evaluated the potential influence of lung aging on the efficiency of replication of influenza A virus (IAV) and severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), as well as determining the pro-inflammatory and antiviral responses of the distal lung tissue.

Results: Using precision-cut lung slices (PCLS) from donors of different ages, we found that pandemic H1N1 and avian H5N1 IAV replicated in the lung parenchyma with high efficacy. In contrast to these IAV strains, SARS-CoV-2 Early isolate and Delta variant of concern (VOC) replicated less efficiently in PCLS. Interestingly, both viruses showed reduced replication in PCLS from older compared to younger donors, suggesting that aged lung tissue represents a suboptimal environment for viral replication. Regardless of the age-dependent viral loads, PCLS responded to H5N1 IAV infection by an induction of IL-6 and IP10/CXCL10, both at the mRNA and protein levels, and to H1N1 IAV infection by induction of IP10/CXCL10 mRNA. Finally, while SARS-CoV-2 and H1N1 IAV infection were not causing detectable cell death, H5N1 IAV infection led to more cytotoxicity and induced significant early interferon responses.

Conclusions: In summary, our findings suggest that aged lung tissue might not favor viral dissemination, pointing to a determinant role of dysregulated immune mechanisms in the development of severe disease.