Close X
Thursday, November 28, 2024
ADVT 
Health

Lab Study Supports Linking Zika Virus To Brain Birth Defect

Darpan News Desk The Canadian Press, 04 Mar, 2016 10:55 AM
    NEW YORK — A lab study has found that Zika can infect embryonic cells that help form the brain, adding to evidence that the virus causes a serious birth defect.
     
    The mosquito-borne virus, which is spreading in Latin America and the Caribbean, normally causes only mild symptoms, if any in adults. But scientists are alarmed by indications that when it infects a pregnant woman, her baby may be born with a small head and a brain that hasn't developed properly.
     
    Researchers suspect Zika infection causes the condition, called microcephaly, but are still trying to prove it. Reports have documented traces of the virus in the brains of babies with microcephaly who'd died soon after birth, and in fetal brain tissue after abortion.
     
    The new work provides experimental evidence that once the virus reaches the developing brain, it can infect and harm cells that are key for further brain development, said Hengli Tang of Florida State University, a lead author of the work.
     
    Results were released Friday by the journal Cell Stem Cell.
     
    The study found that infection can harm these cells in two ways: killing some outright and damaging the ability of others to divide and grow in number. The cells, when healthy, help build the part of the brain that is affected in microcephaly, Tang said. So it would make sense that the damaging effect of Zika on those cells may bring on that condition, he said.
     
     
    But he stressed that his study does not prove that Zika causes microcephaly, nor that it works by that route. A number of other viruses are known to trigger the condition.
     
    Researchers did not take the brain cells from embryos; they created them from stem cells obtained from other sources.
     
    Dr. Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, who did not participate in the research, agreed that the study doesn't prove a link to Zika. But "it certainly adds weight to the argument," he said.
     
    And the idea that Zika may cause the condition by harming the specific kind of brain cell used in the study is feasible, he said.
     
    Researchers also found that infected cells pump out more virus.
     
    Dr. Guo-li Ming of Johns Hopkins University, another lead study author, said researchers can now explore questions like how Zika infects the cells.
     
     
    Tang said he is collaborating with other labs to look for substances that will block Zika infection of cells. If such a substance can be turned into a drug, it might be useful to give to pregnant women in high-risk areas who've been bitten by mosquitoes, he said. Such treatment might suppress the amount of virus in a woman's body, which in turn may reduce the risk of infecting her fetus, Tang said.

    MORE Health ARTICLES

    Canada Seeing Outbreaks Of Pertussis. Is Waning Immunity From Shots One Reason?

    Canada Seeing Outbreaks Of Pertussis. Is Waning Immunity From Shots One Reason?
    The bacterial infection, which often but not always causes a "whoop" sound when breathing or coughing, is particularly dangerous for very young babies, say doctors. The disease can lead to hospitalization and, in rare cases, death.

    Canada Seeing Outbreaks Of Pertussis. Is Waning Immunity From Shots One Reason?

    Machine Used In Cancer, Heart Disease Scans In Alberta Back Up And Running

    Machine Used In Cancer, Heart Disease Scans In Alberta Back Up And Running
    EDMONTON — A key piece of machinery in Alberta used in diagnostic tests such as cancer and heart disease is back up and running after a four-week shutdown.

    Machine Used In Cancer, Heart Disease Scans In Alberta Back Up And Running

    Belt Getting Tighter? Study Finds A Pot Belly Risky Even If You're Not Considered Overweight

    Belt Getting Tighter? Study Finds A Pot Belly Risky Even If You're Not Considered Overweight
    New research suggests normal-weight people who carry their fat at their waistlines may be at higher risk of death over the years than overweight or obese people whose fat is more concentrated on the hips and thighs.

    Belt Getting Tighter? Study Finds A Pot Belly Risky Even If You're Not Considered Overweight

    How Low Should You Go? Details Revealed From Big Study That Challenges Blood Pressure Targets

    How Low Should You Go? Details Revealed From Big Study That Challenges Blood Pressure Targets
    Details were revealed Monday from a landmark federal study that challenges decades of thinking on blood pressure, giving a clearer picture of plusses and minuses of more aggressive treatment.

    How Low Should You Go? Details Revealed From Big Study That Challenges Blood Pressure Targets

    From Eyeballs To Hearts: Google Life Sciences, Heart Association, Team On New Research Venture

    From Eyeballs To Hearts: Google Life Sciences, Heart Association, Team On New Research Venture
    ORLANDO, Fla. — A company whose name is synonymous with eyeballs on the Internet is turning its attention to hearts.

    From Eyeballs To Hearts: Google Life Sciences, Heart Association, Team On New Research Venture

    Few Housing Options Available For Adults With Autism, Say Family And Experts

    Few Housing Options Available For Adults With Autism, Say Family And Experts
    Adam Elsharkawi, 24, will live with his parents in North Vancouver, B.C., working part-time in a bakery, and will eventually move in with his sister, Jemana, and her husband. Adam hasn't been told yet that he will one day have to move.

    Few Housing Options Available For Adults With Autism, Say Family And Experts