Animal research suggests Zika could affect the adult brain
Animal research suggests Zika could affect the adult brain
“Zika virus may cause long-term memory damage, similar to Alzheimer’s disease,” The Daily Telegraph reports. At the moment such a claim is pure speculation as it is based on research into mice.
Currently, the effects of the Zika virus are thought to be short-term in adults, only presenting a threat to unborn babies. The short-term symptoms in adults are usually similar to the flu, such as fever and joint pain.
This latest research involved mice bred to have an immune deficiency to the Zika virus. Researchers found that after injecting the virus into their blood, it went on to have an effect on areas of the brain where new brain cells are created. If a similar effect occurred in humans there could be a potential impact on memory and thinking skills.
The last major Zika outbreak occurred in French Polynesia in 2013-2014. During this time the World Health Organization recorded an increase in the number of cases of Guillain-Barre syndrome (GBS); usually a rare neurological condition that can cause muscle weakness due to nerve damage. But the picture was complicated as the area was also in the grip of a dengue outbreak, which has also been associated with GBS.
As this was exploratory research, we don’t yet know the implications of these findings for adults. The picture may become clearer once more data is analysed from the ongoing outbreak in the Americas.
If travelling to Zika-affected areas, then following standard advice about avoiding mosquito bites would be wise.
The study was carried out by researchers from the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, the University of California and the La Jolla Institute for Genomic Medicine, all in the US. It was funded by the National Institutes of Health, the Simons Foundation of Autism Research Initiative and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. There appear to be no conflicts of interest.
The study was published in the peer-reviewed medical journal Cell Stem Cell on an open-access basis, which means you can read it for free online or download it as a PDF.
The final conclusion
This experimental study in mice investigated the effect of Zika virus on adult brain cells, hoping to increase knowledge of the long-term outcomes of Zika virus on the adult brain. Zika was thought to be a short-term virus for adult humans without many long-term effects.
The researchers’ experiments in mice found that the two small areas in the adult mouse brain containing cells active in cell division can be susceptible to pronounced Zika infection leading to cell death and reduced cell division.
While healthy humans may be able to mount an effective immune response to the virus, it is possible that immunocompromised humans may be susceptible in ways demonstrated by the mice.
However, as the authors point out, the study only used a single virus strain, a single mouse strain and was at a single point in time. There is more information needed before the implications for humans are understood.
Future studies are needed in infected humans to describe the effects of the Zika virus on the adult brain.
Public Health England provide an up-to-date overview of the current state of the Zika virus outbreaks in the Americas, as well as specific advice for certain groups, such as pregnant women or women planning to become pregnant.
Source: NHS News
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