Close X
Wednesday, November 13, 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

    Believe It! We Are Wired For Laziness Tells SFU Team

    Believe It! We Are Wired For Laziness Tells SFU Team
    A team from Simon Fraser University in Canada found that our nervous systems are remarkably adept in changing the way we move so as to expend the least amount of energy possible.

    Believe It! We Are Wired For Laziness Tells SFU Team

    Surgery Rate To Fix Vaginal Mesh Problems Low, Says Study, Despite Many Lawsuits

    Surgery Rate To Fix Vaginal Mesh Problems Low, Says Study, Despite Many Lawsuits
    Our study shows that, after 10 years of followup, one in 30 Ontario women required mesh revision or removal surgery

    Surgery Rate To Fix Vaginal Mesh Problems Low, Says Study, Despite Many Lawsuits

    More Men With Breast Cancer Removing Unaffected Breast

    More Men With Breast Cancer Removing Unaffected Breast
    The number of men with breast cancer who underwent surgery to remove the unaffected breast nearly doubled between 2004-2011, says a new study.

    More Men With Breast Cancer Removing Unaffected Breast

    Losing Weight As Easy As Drinking A Glass Of Water!

    Losing Weight As Easy As Drinking A Glass Of Water!
    Just drinking a pint of water, three times a day, before your main meals may help reduce your weight,

    Losing Weight As Easy As Drinking A Glass Of Water!

    Your Facial Scrub May Contain Millions Of Plastic Particles

    Almost 100,000 tiny 'microbeads' - each a fraction of a millimetre in diameter - could be released in every single application of certain products, such as facial scrubs, the findings showed

    Your Facial Scrub May Contain Millions Of Plastic Particles

    Eating 'On The Go' Could Make You Fat

    Eating 'On The Go' Could Make You Fat
    Dieters who eat while performing other activities such as walking or watching television may increase their food intake later in the day which could lead to weight gain and obesity, says a new study.

    Eating 'On The Go' Could Make You Fat