Department of Psychological and Brain Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
Department of Animal and Food Sciences, University of Delaware, Newark, DE 19716, USA.
Viruses. 2021 Nov 18;13(11):2298. doi: 10.3390/v13112298.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is a mosquito-borne flavivirus that became widely recognized due to the epidemic in Brazil in 2015. Since then, there has been nearly a 20-fold increase in the incidence of microcephaly and birth defects seen among women giving birth in Brazil, leading the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) to officially declare a causal link between prenatal ZIKV infection and the serious brain abnormalities seen in affected infants. Here, we used a unique rat model of prenatal ZIKV infection to study three possible long-term outcomes of congenital ZIKV infection: (1) behavior, (2) cell proliferation, survival, and differentiation in the brain, and (3) immune responses later in life. Adult offspring that were prenatally infected with ZIKV exhibited motor deficits in a sex-specific manner, and failed to mount a normal interferon response to a viral immune challenge later in life. Despite undetectable levels of ZIKV in the brain and serum in these offspring at P2, P24, or P60, these results suggest that prenatal exposure to ZIKV results in lasting consequences that could significantly impact the health of the offspring. To help individuals already exposed to ZIKV, as well as be prepared for future outbreaks, we need to understand the full spectrum of neurological and immunological consequences that could arise following prenatal ZIKV infection.
寨卡病毒（ZIKV）是一种通过蚊子传播的黄病毒，由于 2015 年巴西的疫情而广为人知。此后，巴西出生的妇女所生婴儿的小头畸形和出生缺陷发病率增加了近 20 倍，这促使疾病控制与预防中心（CDC）正式宣布产前寨卡病毒感染与受感染婴儿大脑严重异常之间存在因果关系。在这里，我们使用了一种独特的大鼠模型来研究先天性寨卡病毒感染的三种可能的长期后果：（1）行为，（2）大脑中的细胞增殖、存活和分化，以及（3）生命后期的免疫反应。在产前感染寨卡病毒的成年后代表现出特定于性别的运动缺陷，并且在生命后期对病毒免疫挑战无法产生正常的干扰素反应。尽管这些后代在 P2、P24 或 P60 时大脑和血清中无法检测到寨卡病毒，但这些结果表明，产前暴露于寨卡病毒会导致持续的后果，这可能会对后代的健康产生重大影响。为了帮助已经接触过寨卡病毒的个人，并为未来的疫情做好准备，我们需要了解在产前寨卡病毒感染后可能出现的全部神经和免疫后果。
