Zika found to spread within and pass through the placenta: new study

New research illuminates how the Zika virus passes through the placenta. Analysts from Emory University found that Zika breaks down the placenta’s function of protecting the fetus and instead turns the organ into a breeding ground. Investigators discovered that the virus mushrooms in immune cells without killing them explaining how it’s able to penetrate the placenta leading to birth deformities.

Study co-author and pediatrics professor Dr. Mehul Suthar, said, “Our results substantiate the limited evidence from pathology case reports,” shedding light on a previously unexplained phenomenon Tech Times reports.

Contemporary viruses, namely dengue, yellow fever, and West Nile aren’t typically able to pass through the placenta, believed to be the organ’s protective defense mechanism. Zika, however, has an insidious ability to infect the cells, proliferate, and transmit the virus to the fetus.

Analysts studied cells donated by healthy volunteers who experienced full-term Cesarean births. Scientists were stunned by the results: Zika did not kill Hofbauer cells, the protective type of cells that are generated by developing fetuses; rather, Zika continued to germinate.

But scientists noted evidence of inflammatory and antiviral indicators in the infected Hofbauer cells leaving questions as to which receptors allow the virus to infiltrate the protective cells, and whether they mutate the fetus’s immune system during various stages of development.
These records detail why the first and early second trimesters of pregnancy are the riskiest for Zika penetration because the placenta hasn’t matured well enough yet. And resistance to Zika is relative to the type of donor justifying why some women don’t give birth to defected babies.
“Host genetics and non-viral factors, including nutrition and microbiota, as well as timing may be influencing infectivity,” Suthar said, noting that these attributes could assist combative antiviral treatments and preventive measures.
The results were published May 27 in the journal Cell Host & Microbe.