The possibility of early prenatal screening for and enhanced understanding of the link between Zika infection and fetal abnormalities may have grown, with a University of Southern California (USC) discovery of birth defect-associated biomarkers.
Publishing their findings in the Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight, researchers looked at the immune systems of pregnant women through the first, second and third trimesters. For the test, samples were collected from 30 Zika-infected Brazilians, 30 health Brazilians, and an additional 14 healthy subjects from Los Angeles. Researchers then examined messenger chemicals released by the body in response to infections. In the end, they identified 16 seemingly associated with Zika-caused abnormal births.
“The highest risk of birth defects is from Zika virus infection during the first and second trimester. A prenatal test has the potential to relieve the concerns of many expectant mothers,” said Suan-Sin Foo, a research associate in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and the study’s first author. “We still have a lot to learn about how Zika virus affects the immune responses in the mother, and how infection can negatively impact her baby.”
The effects of Zika have been well documented, including the most prominent: microcephaly, which causes a smaller than usual head size. Infected infants may grow up blind, or incapable of walking, chewing or talking. However, it is still too early in the research to tell whether the messenger chemicals cause the birth defects or are a response to it.
“Our findings identified a panel of biomarkers which may potentially be useful in predicting Zika-associated fetal outcomes regardless of pregnancy stages, simply by evaluating the mothers’ blood,” said Weiqiang Chen, a research associate in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine and the study’s co-first author.
Chen and Foo teamed up with study lead and USC professor Jae Jung, chair of the university’s Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology. They also collaborated with Shin-Ae Lee and Yen Chan from their school, as well as counterparts at UCLA, and in Brazil and Australia.