Divergent Nasal Immune Responses of HRV VS RSV Infection in Childhood Asthma

HRV and RSV are the two most common viruses that trigger asthma attacks in children, yet how they affect the nasal immune system in different ways is still not fully clear. This study used RNA-seq data (GSE115770) to compare nasal gene expression between asthmatic children infected with HRV (n=129) and those with RSV (n=7). HRV infection changed 2,822 genes, mainly activating antiviral responses (such as IFIT1, IRF7, CXCL10) and attracting neutrophils. In contrast, RSV altered over 21,000 genes, strongly activating Th2/IL-33 related genes (IL1B, CSF3R) and the NF-κB pathway. By comparing virus-specific genes, the study found clear differences: HRV-specific genes linked to immune regulation, MAPK signaling and miRNA-related gene control; RSV-specific genes were tied to typical immune reactions like adaptive immunity, virus defense and MAPK pathways. establishes a random forest model to accurately distinguish between HRV or RSV infected children and non infected children (AUC of HRV=0.952, AUC of RSV=1.000). These results indicate that HRV and RSV elicit different immune responses in children's noses and provide genetic markers that may help identify which virus is causing asthma attacks.