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Zika virus found to persist in eyes of mice
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Zika virus infected the iris, cornea, retina and optic nerve and caused conjunctivitis, panuveitis and neuroretinitis in mice, according to researchers seeking a model for evaluating treatments for Zika infections in the eye.
Mice were treated with an anti-lfnar1 blocking antibody and subcutaneously inoculated with low-passage Zika contemporary clinical isolates, which included strains from French Polynesia and Brazil.
Researchers assessed mice 28 days following inoculation. Zika (ZIKV) RNA persisted in several tissues, according to the researchers, including the eyes, brain, spleen and other organs, long after the virus was cleared from serum.
Researchers detected ZIKV RNA in tear fluid and in the lacrimal gland on day 7 after infection.
Inoculation with eye homogenates obtained from lfnar1 mice infected with Paraíba 2015 at day 7 resulted in death of AG129 mice, which occurred on day 10, the researchers wrote.
Mice inoculated with eye homogenates from day 28 or tears from day 7 did not develop signs of ZIKV infection, suggesting that infectious virus was not produced in the eye following the acute phase of infection, according to the study.
The researchers also studied fetal ocular tissues and concluded that ZIKV might not infect the eyes of fetuses efficiently in this model, even though it crosses the placenta. However, postnatal infection of wild-type mice with ZIKV on day 8 after birth caused a subset of animals to become moribund, and ZIKV RNA was detected readily in the spleen, brain and eyes 8 days later, according to researchers.
Researchers confirmed anterior uveitis with infiltration of inflammatory cells in the anterior chamber. The posterior eye also showed signs of uveitis with inflammatory cell infiltration, exudate and debris in the vitreous humor.
“Although we did not observe evidence of congenital ocular disease, which has been described in humans, ZIKV infected the eye and caused conjunctivitis and severe uveitis in immunodeficient adult mice,” the researchers wrote. – by Abigail Sutton
Disclosure: Miner reported no financial disclosures. Please see the full study for a complete list of remaining authors’ financial disclosures.
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