Host transcriptome profile of children with respiratory virus infection

Purpose: The aim of this study is to determine the expression profile in whole blood samples of children infected with respiratory syncytial virus and other respiratory viruses. Method: Host mRNA profiles in whole blood samples of children were generated by next-generation sequencing using Illumina Hiseq. Sequence reads were trimmed for adapter using skewer, mapped to reference human genome using STAR, and quantified using RSEM. Differential expression analysis was performed using DESeq2. Results: Transcriptional module analysis revealed dysregulation of genes related to inflammatory response, neutrophils, monocytes, B-cell and T-cell response. Conclusion: This study showed an imbalance in innate and adaptive immune responses in children with respiratory virus infections. This study also showed that NGS provides a comprehensive assessment of transcripts in whole blood samples. Overall design: Whole blood samples from hospitalized children infected with respiratory syncytial virus (n=37), human rhinovirus (n=15), human metapneumovirus (n=4), influenza virus (n=2), enterovirus D68 (n=1), adenovirus (n=1); including respiratory syncytial virus and human rhinovirus mixed infection (n=5), respiratory syncytial virus and enterovirus D68 mixed infection (n=1); and virus negative (n=10).