beta-Adrenergic agonists (beta-agonists) are commonly used to treat respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) bronchiolitis but are generally ineffective for unknown reasons. We have previously shown that RSV strain A2 inhibits bronchoalveolar epithelial responses to beta-agonists in a BALB/c mouse model by inducing heterologous keratinocyte cytokine (KC)/CXCR2-mediated desensitization of epithelial beta(2)-adrenergic receptors. The aim of the current study was to determine whether RSV also induces airway insensitivity to beta-agonists. Total lung resistance (R) was measured in anesthetized female BALB/c mice undergoing mechanical ventilation on a flexiVent computer-controlled piston ventilator. Data were analyzed using the single-compartment model. Infection with RSV A2 did not induce airway hyperresponsiveness to increasing doses of the nebulized cholinergic agonist methacholine (MCh) at any time point after RSV infection. Prenebulization with the beta-agonist terbutaline (100 muM) significantly attenuated bronchoconstrictive responses to 20 and 50 mg/ml MCh in uninfected mice and in mice infected with RSV 4-8 days postinfection (d.p.i.). However, in mice infected with replication-competent, but not UV-inactivated, RSV for 2 days, significant terbutaline insensitivity was found. Terbutaline insensitivity at 2 d.p.i. could be reversed by systemic preinfection treatment with neutralizing anti-CXCR2 antibodies, which reduced bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) neutrophil counts but did not alter viral replication, BAL KC levels, or lung edema. Terbutaline insensitivity was also reversed by postinfection nebulization with neutralizing anti-KC or anti-CXCR2 antibodies and could be replicated in normal, uninfected mice by nebulization with recombinant KC. These data suggest that KC/CXCR2-mediated airway insensitivity to beta-agonists may underlie the modest utility of these drugs as bronchodilators in therapy for acute RSV bronchiolitis.