Diminished Antiviral Cytokine Response in Bile Duct Ligated Mice

Cholestatic patients with high bile acid serum levels are more susceptible to infections and isolated immune cells of these patients behave insensitive against classical pro-inflammatory stimuli. In contrast to these potential proviral properties of bile acids, we recently showed that bile acids reduce mouse cytomegalovirus (MCMV) replication in vitro, thereby exhibiting antiviral potential. To analyse these conflicting properties of bile acids on immunity and virus replication we determined the influence of cholestatic conditions on cytomegalovirus infections in bile duct ligated (BDL) mice. To measure the MCMV…