Morphological and Molecular Changes in the Cortex and Cerebellum of Immunocompetent Mice Infected with Zika Virus

Zika virus (ZIKV) disease continues to be a threat to public health, and it is estimated that millions of people have been infected and that there have been more cases of serious complications than those already reported. Despite many studies on the pathogenesis of ZIKV, several of the genes involved in the malformations associated with viral infection are still unknown. In this work, the morphological and molecular changes in the cortex and cerebellum of mice infected with ZIKV were evaluated. Neonatal BALB/c mice were inoculated with ZIKV intraperitoneally, and the respective controls were inoculated with a solution devoid of the virus. At day 10 postinoculation, the mice were euthanized to measure the expression of the markers involved in cortical and cerebellar neurodevelopment. The infected mice presented morphological changes accompanied by calcifications, as well as a decrease in most of the markers evaluated in the cortex and cerebellum. The modifications found could be predictive of astrocytosis, dendritic pathology, alterations in the regulation systems of neuronal excitation and inhibition, and premature maturation, conditions previously described in other models of ZIKV infection and microcephaly.

Automated summary

This study investigates the morphological and molecular changes in the cortex and cerebellum of mice infected with ZIKV. The infected mice showed significant morphological changes accompanied by calcifications and decreased expression of markers involved in cortical and cerebellar neurodevelopment. These findings may indicate the presence of astrocytosis, dendritic pathology, alterations in neuronal regulation systems, and premature maturation, which have been previously linked to ZIKV infection and microcephaly.