Fig. 3. Alcohol feeding in mice potentiates and sustains RSV-induced cilia slowing and cilia loss and delays recovery of the ciliated epithelium.

Female BALB/c mice were ethanol-fed or water-fed for 8 wks prior to RSV infection (3,250 TCID₅₀ U/mouse) and sacrificed 1–7 days post infection. A) CBF decreased in tracheal epithelium of RSV-infected mice (^ap<0.05 vs Control mice) by 24 hr and recovered to baseline levels by day 2. In alcohol- (EtOH) fed mice, the RSV-mediated CBF decrease persisted through 1 wk (^ap<0.05 vs Control and RSV only mice @1wk). B) RSV caused a loss of motile cilia (^bp<0.05 vs Control mice at 48 hr) which recovered by 1 wk after infection. In alcohol-fed RSV-infected mice, cilia loss was detected 24 hr earlier and sustained longer than RSV only (^ap<0.05 vs RSV only at 24 hr and 1 wk and Control mice at all time points). n=6–10 mice per group from replicated experiments.