JCI Insight: Zika virus infection affects eye development before birth

20, 2020 /--- -- Despite the dominance of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in last year's news, researchers are still studying the health effects of the Zika virus.
virus is mainly transmitted by the bites of mosquitoes belonging to the Aedes aegypti mosquito.
, however, it can also be transmitted through sexual contact, blood transfusions, organ transplants, and between mother and child during pregnancy.
the virus has been shown to cause a range of birth defects, including microcephaly and various neurological disorders, musculoskeletal diseases and eye abnormalities.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) A new study by Glenn Yiu, an associate professor at the Davis Eye Center at the University of California, Davis, and Koen Van Rompay of the National Primate Research Center in California found that Zika infection in early pregnancy can affect fetal retinal development and lead to congenital eye abnormalities.
, however, does not appear to affect eye development after birth.
A congenital Zika virus infection is known to cause eye defects, but it is not clear whether the virus continues to replicate or affect eye development after birth," Yiu said.
study of rhesus monkeys shows that the virus mainly affects fetal development during pregnancy, but does not affect eye growth after birth.
, in collaboration with the California National Primate Research Center at the Davis Eye Center at the University of California, Davis, two pregnant rhesus monkeys were infected with the Zika virus in the late stages of pregnancy.
then conducted a two-year study of the eye development of babies born with Zika.
exposed to the Zika virus do not have microcephaly or significant neurological or behavioral defects.
, however, these babies do show some eye birth defects.
include large colon tumors, missing eye gaps due to abnormal development.
monkeys exposed to the Zika virus also exhibit the absence of photorescientors (photosensitive cells in the retina) and retinal nerve cells, which helps to transmit visual information to the brain.
despite being born with congenital eye deformities, their eyes seem to follow normal development for the first two years.
findings suggest that eye defects caused by Zika virus infections occur mainly in the womb and may not have a sustained effect on eye development after birth.
Rhesus monkeys are the natural hosts of the virus and have similar immune and eye characteristics to humans, including blood-retinal barrier characteristics and the unique presence of maculars, making it a typical animal model for infected animals, superior to typical experimental animals such as mice and rats.
results were published in the journal JCI Insight.
(Bioon.com) Source: Zika virus virus affectss eye development but not birth after birth Original source: Glenn Yiu et al, Evolution of ocular defects in infant macaques in utero Zika virus, JCI Insight (2020). DOI: 10.1172/jci.insight.143947。