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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." • DAVIDWAGNER,Science&TechnologyReporter|Follow@david_r_wagneron Twitter