ISTOCK, AUNT_SPRAYMice infected with Zika virus as pups suffer seizures days later and develop deficits in brain structure and behavior as adults, researchers report today (June 6) in Science Translational Medicine. Blocking a signaling protein called TNF-α in infected infant mice reduces seizures, suggesting the molecule could lessen the symptoms caused by Zika infections, the authors conclude.
“Young mice responded very well to the TNF-α inhibitor,” study coauthor Julia Clarke of Federal University of Rio de Janeiro says in a statement. “We found that some animals had a 50% reduction in the number of seizures, on average.”
In the study, Clarke and her colleagues infected three-day-old mice with Zika virus and found most of them developed seizures as soon as six days later. The infected pups also weren’t as strong and didn’t move as well compared to healthy ones. This is not the first animal study to show that Zika infection in infancy can cause devastating effects. It has also been documented in monkeys.
Infant mice infected with Zika virus suffered changes to the brain, including cell death (white arrows) compared with control mice (top row). NEM DE OLIVEIRA SOUZA ET AL., SCI TRANS MED, 2018
