Effect of subclinical Zika viral infection on brain development

A number of studies showed that Zika virus (ZIKV) can cause severe abnormalities in fetuses, e.g., brain lesions, and subsequently life-long impairment in children. However the majority of The considerable proportion of infections in pregnant women are, however, is subclinical and is are not associated with congenital abnormalities in fetuses and newborns. It is known that disruptions to the in utero environment during fetal development can program increased risks for disease in adulthood. For this reason, children affected with subclinical in utero by ZIKV infection can appear deceptively healthy at birth but develop a the silent and clinical disease as time passesin brain and immune function during postnatal development. Here, we used the porcine model of subclinical fetal ZIKV infection to determine health sequelae in offspring which did not show apparent signs of disease. We demonstrated that subclinical fetal infection was associated with abnormal immunological responses in apparently healthy offspring under normal environmental conditions and during social stress. We also showed silent sex-specific brain pathology as represented by altered gene expression. Our study provides new insights into potential outcomes of subclinical in utero ZIKV infection. It also emphases that further attempts to better understand silent pathology and develop alleviative interventions in ZIKV-affected offspring should take into account interactions of host factors, like sex, and environmental insults, like stress.