Porcine reproductive and respiratory syndrome virus (PRRSV) has been suggested to exploit interleukin-10 (IL-10) to suppress immune defense of infected pigs. The present study constructed plasmids encoding selected short hairpin RNA specific to porcine IL-10 mRNA (pIL-10sh) to knockdown IL-10 transcription and investigated the suppressive effect of PRRSV-induced IL-10 on various immune marker expressions. Naïve blood monocytes from eight PRRSV-seronegative pigs were transfected with pIL-10sh and pNeg (plasmid vector) prior to PRRSV inoculation and subsequent lipopolysaccharide (LPS) stimulation. The mRNA expressions of IL-10, IL-1β, IL-12p40, tumor necrosis factor alpha (TNFα), interferon gamma (IFNγ), transforming growth factor beta (TGFβ), CD80, and CD86 were evaluated by real-time PCR. The IL-10, TNFα, and IFNγ protein productions were determined by ELISA. Compared with non-transfected monocyte control, transfection with selected pIL-10sh (pIL-10sh1), but not other pIL-10sh nor pNeg, significantly reduced IL-10 expression and significantly enhanced TNFα and IFNγ expressions. Slight increases in IL-1β, IL-12p40, CD80, and CD86 expressions were also observed. Neither pIL-10sh1 nor pNeg transfection affected TGFβ expression. Our results indicate that PRRSV does exploit IL-10 to suppress the expressions of pro-inflammatory cytokines, mainly TNFα and IFNγ, and co-stimulatory molecules, CD80 and CD86. © 2012 Elsevier B.V..