Download San Diego scientists find Zika may infect adult brains too By David

SanDiegoscientistsfindZikamayinfectadultbrainstoo
ByDavidWagner
18AUGUST2016
Foranyonewho'sseentheimagesofbabiesbornwithshrunkenheads,the
devastatingtolloftheZikavirusonthebrainsofnewbornsiswell-known.Butnow,
localscientistsarediscoveringthattheviruscouldalsobeaffectingthebrainsof
adults.
AstudypublishedThursdayinthejournalCellStemCellshowsthattheZikavirus
candamagebraincellsinaspecificstrainofadultlabmice.LaJollaInstitutefor
AllergyandImmunologyresearcherSujanShrestaco-ledthestudywithJoseph
GleesonoftheTheRockefellerUniversity.
"Thevirus—inthisparticularmousestrain—getsintothebrainanditinfects
theseparticularcellscalledneuronalstemcells.Thesearecellsthateventually
becomeneurons,"Shrestasaid.
Thescientistsemphasizethatmoreresearchisneeded,andthatthelong-term
effectsofZikainfectioninadulthumansarecurrentlyunknown.Buttheysay
damagetothebrain'sstemcellscouldfeasiblyresultinproblemslikeearlyonset
Alzheimer'sdisease,depressionandlearningdifficulties.
MostpeopleinfectedwithZikashownosymptoms.ButShrestasaidthisnew
findinginmicedesignedtobevulnerabletoZikashowssomepeople,especially
thosewithweakimmunesystems,couldexperiencelong-termneurologicaldamage.
"Formostadults,wewillbeasymptomatic,"saidShresta."Eightypercentofuswill
neverknowweevenhadtheinfection.Butinthat20percent,oneofthe
consequencescouldbethesebadneuronaloutcomes."
OtherZikascientistsnotinvolvedwiththestudysaythesefindingsprovidecause
forconcern.Buttheycautionthatresearchersareonlyjustbeginningtounderstand
howZikamaybeattackingtheadultbrain.
"Weweresuspectingthiscouldbethecase,"saidUCSanDiegoZikaexpertAlysson
Muotri."Themanuscriptdoesnotreportanybehavioralalterationininfectedmice,
anditisuncleariftheZikainfectionpersistontheadultbrainforlongperiods."
Thoughthestudyispreliminary,Muotrisaysitshowsthatscientistsshouldbe
developingZikatreatmentsforthosealreadyinfected,notjustvaccinestoprevent
thevirusfromspreading.
Muotribelievesthatifthevirusdoesmanagetogetintoadultbrains,itcouldhave
"consequencesformemoryandlearning.Similarly,theviruscouldtriggeran
inflammatoryresponsethataccumulatesovertime,damagingthebrain."
UCSanDiego'sJairLagedeSiqueira-Neto,whoiscurrentlyscreeningtensof
thousandsofpotentialdrugcandidatesforZika,saidit'sstillunknownwhetherthe
viruscancrosstheblood-brainbarrierinhealthyadulthumans.
"Anylongtermeffectoninfectedadultswouldbehighlyspeculativeatthispoint,"
hesaid.
PatriciaGarcezofthetheInstituteofBiomedicalSciencesandtheD'OrInstitutefor
ResearchandEducationinRiodeJanierosaidthestudy"raisesawarenessofthe
potentialeffectofvirusinadultsandopensanavenueofquestionstobeanswered
totranslatetheseresultstohumans."
GarcezsaidmoreexperimentsshouldbedoneusingdifferentstrainsoftheZika
virusonmiceofvaryingages.Shrestasaidsheandhercolleaguesareplanningto
carryoutthosefollow-upstudies.
Fornow,Shrestasaidthisresearchsuggestspublichealtheffortsshouldn'tonly
focusonpreventingZikainfectioninpregnantwomenandtheirunbornchildren.
Shesaidmicrocephalyisclearlythemostdevastatingconsequenceofthevirusseen
today.But,shesaid,"Ourstudysuggestsit'stimeweshouldinvestigatemoreinto
whatthisvirusdoesinchildrenandadults,notjustfetuses."
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DAVIDWAGNER,Science&TechnologyReporter|Follow@david_r_wagneron
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