Expression of Profi brotic Growth Factors and Their Receptors by Mouse Lung Macrophages and Fibroblasts under Conditions of Acute Viral Infl ammation in Infl uenza A/H5N1 Virus

Morphological signs of early interstitial fi brosis, developing under conditions of acute viral inflammation (postinfection days 1-14), were observed in C57Bl/6 mice infected with influenza A/H5N1 A/goose/Krasnoozerskoye/627/05 virus. The development of fi brosis was confirmed by an increase in the number of lung cells expressing TNF-alpha. These changes were recorded in the presence of a many-fold increase in the counts of macrophages and fi broblasts expressing FGF, EGF, and their receptors.