Background and objective: Respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) results in acute wheezing in infants and is frequently associated with recurrent wheezing. Although RSV-induced wheezing clinically resembles that of asthma, corticosteroids are not equivalently effective in RSV-associated wheezing.The study sought to determine the mechanisms of RSV-induced wheezing by establishing an in vitro model of RSV-infected human bronchial epithelial cells (16-HBEC). Methods: Leukotriene C₄ synthase (LTC₄S) messenger RNA (mRNA) expression in 16-HBEC was detected using fluorescence quantitative polymerase chain reaction, and the relative level of LTC₄S mRNA was expressed as quotient cycle threshold (qCt) based on the threshold cycle number value compared with that of β-actin. Cysteinyl leukotrienes (CysLT) in culture supernatant were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RSV-infected 16-HBEC was incubated with gradient concentration of budesonide (BUD) to assess its effects on LTC₄S expression and CysLT secretion. Results: RSV infection resulted in increased LTC₄S mRNA expression between 48 and 96 h post-infection. High level of CysLT was detected in the supernatant of RSV-infected 16-HBEC. BUD at concentrations of 10^-10 to 10^-5 mol/L did not significantly alter LTC₄S mRNA expression. Conclusions: RSV infection upregulated LTC₄S expression in HBEC leading to increased CysLT secretion. Such induction was not attenuated by BUD, suggesting that CysLT might contribute to the pathogenesis of RSV-induced wheezing.