MOLECULAR AND IMMUNE PROFILING OF INFLUENZA A/B INFECTION: ASSOCIATIONS BETWEEN VIRAL RNA BURDEN, ANTIVIRAL GENE EXPRESSION, AND SERUM CYTOKINES

The aim of the current study was to define molecular and immune responses among patients with influenza infection and examine the effect of viral load and antiviral and inflammatory markers. Eighty participants were involved in the research: 40 influenza patients and 40 healthy individuals. Results showed that 67.4% of influenza A and 32.6% of influenza B were present with a mean Ct/Cq value equal to 25.8 ± 3.4. Patients had higher average levels of the relative expression of IFNB1, MX1, and ISG15 genes (2.44 ± 1.05, 3.44 ± 1.29, and 3.61 ± 1.45, respectively) relative to healthy controls (1.00), showing significant differences (p<0.001). The levels of IL-6, TNF-α, IL-8/CXCL8, and IFN-γ were also higher in patients than in healthy controls (p<0.001). In conducting the Spearman correlation analysis, it became evident that all markers studied show a positive correlation with viral load, as evidenced by the ρ values ranging between +0.626 and +0.757 (p<0.001). The strongest correlation was observed with IL-8/CXCL8 and ISG15. The results indicate the joint activation of antiviral and inflammatory responses relating with viral load in patients with influenza.