Congenital Zika Virus Infection in Immunocompetent Mice Causes Postnatal Growth Impediment and Neurobehavioral Deficits

Authors

Fengwei Bai, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Amber Paul, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Dhiraj Acharya, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Biswas Neupane, University of Southern MississippiFollow
E.A. Thompson, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Gabriel Gonzalez-Fernandez, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Katherine Copeland, University of Texas at Arlington
Melanae Garrett, University of Texas at Arlington
Haibei Liu, Hattiesburg Clinic
Mariper Lopez, University of Missisippi Medical CenterFollow
Matthew de Cruz, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Alex S. Flynt, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Jun Liao, University of Texas at ArlingtonFollow
Yan-lin Guo, University of Southern MississippiFollow
Federico Gonzalez-Fernandez, University of Mississippi Medical Center
Parminder Vig, University of Mississippi Medical CenterFollow

Document Type

Article

Publication Date

8-10-2018

Department

Biological Sciences

School

Biological, Environmental, and Earth Sciences

Abstract

A small percentage of babies born to Zika virus (ZIKV)-infected mothers manifest severe defects at birth, including microcephaly. Among those who appeared healthy at birth, there are increasing reports of postnatal growth or developmental defects. However, the impact of congenital ZIKV infection in postnatal development is poorly understood. Here, we report that a mild congenital ZIKV-infection in pups born to immunocompetent pregnant mice did not display apparent defects at birth, but manifested postnatal growth impediments and neurobehavioral deficits, which include reduced locomotor and cognitive deficits that persisted into adulthood. We found that the brains of these pups were smaller, had a thinner cortical layer 1, displayed increased astrogliosis, decreased expression of microcephaly- and neuron development- related genes, and increased pathology as compared to mock-infected controls. In summary, our results showed that even a mild congenital ZIKV infection in immunocompetent mice could lead to postnatal deficits, providing definitive experimental evidence for a necessity to closely monitor postnatal growth and development of presumably healthy human infants, whose mothers were exposed to ZIKV infection during pregnancy.

Comments

Published by 'Frontiers in Microbiology' at 10.3389/fmicb.2018.02028.

Publication Title

Frontiers in Microbiology

Volume

9

First Page

1

Last Page

12

Recommended Citation

Bai, F., Paul, A., Acharya, D., Neupane, B., Thompson, E., Gonzalez-Fernandez, G., Copeland, K., Garrett, M., Liu, H., Lopez, M., de Cruz, M., Flynt, A. S., Liao, J., Guo, Y., Gonzalez-Fernandez, F., Vig, P. (2018). Congenital Zika Virus Infection in Immunocompetent Mice Causes Postnatal Growth Impediment and Neurobehavioral Deficits. Frontiers in Microbiology, 9, 1-12.
Available at: https://aquila.usm.edu/fac_pubs/15449