{"id":2651,"date":"2018-12-18T17:06:38","date_gmt":"2018-12-19T01:06:38","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/zika-biomarkers-in-blood-could-lead-to-prenatal-screening-for-birth-defects\/"},"modified":"2023-11-26T08:26:57","modified_gmt":"2023-11-26T16:26:57","slug":"zika-biomarkers-in-blood-could-lead-to-prenatal-screening-for-birth-defects","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/keck.usc.edu\/news\/zika-biomarkers-in-blood-could-lead-to-prenatal-screening-for-birth-defects\/","title":{"rendered":"Zika biomarkers in blood could lead to prenatal screening for birth defects"},"content":{"rendered":"\n \n \n\n\n\n\n\n\n\n
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\n\n \n Press Release<\/span>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
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Zika biomarkers in blood could lead to prenatal screening for birth defects<\/h1>\n\n\n<\/div>\n \n \n
\n \n December 18, 2018<\/span>\n <\/div>\n \n \n
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USC researchers have identified biomarkers associated with severe birth defects in babies born to women infected with the Zika virus. The discovery could lead to screening tests and a better understanding about how the infection leads to fetal abnormalities.<\/p>\n

The findings appear in the Nov. 2\u00a0Journal of Clinical Investigation Insight<\/a>.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe 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,\u201d said Suan-Sin Foo, a research associate in the\u00a0Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology<\/a>\u00a0at the\u00a0Keck School of Medicine of USC\u00a0and the study\u2019s first author. \u201cWe 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

Most people infected with the Zika virus, which is spread by the Aedes mosquito, experience no symptoms or mild illness with low-grade fever. But fetuses exposed to Zika in the womb are at risk for devastating neurological defects. One of those defects, microcephaly \u2014 a smaller-than-usual head size \u2014 gained prominence in 2015 with Brazil reporting an unusual number of cases in babies born to mothers infected with the virus.<\/p>\n

As those infants have become toddlers, some can\u2019t see, walk, chew or talk and will require a lifetime of care, according to the\u00a0Centers for Disease Control and Prevention<\/a>. In the United States, there have been approximately 2,483 pregnant women infected with Zika and 116 infants born with Zika-associated birth defects since 2015.<\/p>\n

Aedes mosquitoes have been found in Los Angeles, but none carrying the Zika virus, according to the\u00a0Los Angeles County Department of Public Health<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Zika birth defects: Pregnant women examined through blood samples<\/strong><\/p>\n

For the study, researchers examined the immune systems of pregnant women through blood samples taken during the first, second and third trimesters of pregnancy. They compared blood samples from 30 Zika-infected, pregnant women in Brazil with 30 healthy pregnant women in Brazil and 14 in Los Angeles.<\/p>\n

Specifically, the researchers were looking at cytokines, which are messenger chemicals released by the body in response to an infection. Across a panel of 69 cytokines screened, they identified 16 cytokines that appeared to be associated with Zika-induced abnormal births.<\/p>\n

It isn\u2019t clear whether the messenger chemicals cause the birth defects or are secreted in response to something else, the researchers said.<\/p>\n

\u201cUltrasound is routinely used during pregnancy to check a baby\u2019s condition, but there\u2019s a limit to what can be seen. Magnetic resonance imaging can give clear, high-resolution \u2018snapshots\u2019 of the fetus, but there are safety concerns for the baby and it is recommended for second- and third-trimester pregnancy,\u201d said Weiqiang Chen, a research associate in the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School and the study\u2019s co-first author.<\/p>\n

The team\u2019s findings identified a panel of biomarkers that may potentially be useful in predicting Zika-associated fetal outcomes regardless of pregnancy stages, simply by evaluating the mothers\u2019 blood, Chen explained.<\/p>\n

The study was led by Distinguished Professor\u00a0Jae Jung<\/a>, chair of the Department of Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, in collaboration with Patr\u00edcia Brasil of the Instituto Nacional de Infectologia Evandro Chagas in Brazil, and Karin Nielsen-Saines and Genhong Cheng of UCLA. Other authors are Shin-Ae Lee and Yen Chan of the Keck School of Medicine and Wai-Suet Lee of Griffith University in Australia.<\/p>\n

The research was supported by grants from the National Institutes of Health (CA200422, CA180779, DE023926, AI073099, AI116585, AI129496, AI140705, AI069120, AI056154, AI078389, AI28697, AI40718 and AI129534-01), the Hastings Foundation and Fletcher Jones Foundation, Departamento de Ci\u00eancia e Tecnologia (DECIT\/25000.072811\/2016-17) do Minist\u00e9rio da Sa\u00fade do Brasil and Coordenacao de Aperfeicoamento de Pessoal de Nivel Superior CAPES\/ 88887.116627\/2016-01.<\/p>\n

\u2014 Leigh Hopper<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

\u00a0<\/div>\n\n\n\n<\/div>\n <\/div>\n\n\n <\/div><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":168,"featured_media":2652,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"advgb_blocks_editor_width":"","advgb_blocks_columns_visual_guide":"","footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[596,20],"class_list":["post-2651","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-press-release","tag-department-of-immunology-and-immune-therapeutics","tag-research"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nZika biomarkers in blood could lead to prenatal screening for birth defects<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" 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