The Zika virus outbreak has been deemed a medical crisis with hundreds of babies born in Brazil and surrounding countries with microcephaly. However, there is still no definite link between the mosquito-transmitted virus and babies born with small brains. That may change with the first ever study done on a fetus which was found to have the Zika virus in its brain.
The fetus, which was aborted at approximately 29 weeks of gestation, was autopsied by researchers from the University of Ljubljana in Slovenia who reported they were able to recover the complete genome of the Zika virus in its brain as well as find links for the first time of the biological connections between the virus and underdeveloped brains. They published their findings in The New England Journal of Medicine.
The doctors found that the fetus' brain was small for its age and lacked the folds that are normally found on the surface of a normal brain. They also noted that the brain also had calcium deposits throughout its white matter that also displaced the developing cortical matter. These calcifications in the fetal brain "resembled destroyed neuronal structures,” according to the researchers.
The findings from the autopsy on the fetal brain are significant in understanding the link between Zika and microcephaly – if any. According to Dr. Charles Chiu, director of a viral diagnostic laboratory at UC San Francisco, although this first study does not conclusively prove any links, it makes the connection between the virus and fetal complications a lot clearer than ever.
"This is a huge step toward proving this virus causes microcephaly," he said.
The fetus was reportedly obtained by the researchers after a European woman who was living in Brazil developed flu-like symptoms consistent with the Zika virus and discovered via ultrasound at 28 weeks that her baby was displaying microcephaly as well as having calcium deposits in its brain and placenta. Some reports also state that she observed diminished fetal movements in the second trimester as well. She opted to terminate the pregnancy at 29 weeks.
The researchers looked into the woman's family medical history and ruled out any genetic disorders that the fetus may have inherited to account for it's abnormal development.
With the genome sequence of the virus obtained from the fetus' brain, researchers can now begin creating clones of the virus to begin studies to understand how exactly it affects development when a mother is infected during pregnancy; how the virus penetrates the “priveleged site” of the baby's brain despite all the biological locks and keys in place in the blood-brain barrier; and better test on lab animals the effectiveness of possible vaccines and drugs for treatment.
