Fig. 2

Antiviral interferons and IP-10 induced by influenza virus infection were suppressed in HBEC isolated from smokers. After infection of cells with IAV PR8 at the MOI of 1 for 24 h, total RNA was extracted and cell cytokine mRNA expression was assessed by qRT-PCR. Transcript levels of the cytokines (a) IFN-β, (b) IFN-λ1, (c) IFN-λ2/3, and (d) IP-10 were normalized relative to the constitutively expressed β-actin gene. CS = cigarette smoker; NS = nonsmoker. Data were expressed as the means ± SEM from three separate experiments from different donors. * denotes significant difference between the indicated groups, P < 0.05