Obesity Induces an Impaired Placental Antiviral Immune Response in Pregnant Women Infected with Zika Virus

Obesity is increasing in incidence worldwide, especially in women, which can affect the outcome of pregnancy. During this period, viral infections represent a risk to the mother, the placental unit, and the fetus. The Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak in Brazil has been the cause of congenital Zika syndrome (CZS), with devastating consequences such as microcephaly in newborns. Herein, we analyzed the impact of maternal overweight/obesity on the antiviral factors' expression in the placental tissue of Zika-infected mothers. We accessed placentas from women with and without obesity from 34 public health units (São Paulo) and from Zika-infected mothers with and without obesity from the Clinical Cohort Study of ZIKV pregnant women (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil). We first verified that obesity, without infection, did not alter the constitutive transcriptional expression of antiviral factors or IFN type I/III expression. Interestingly, obesity, when associated with ZIKV infection, showed a decreased transcriptional expression of RIG-I and IFIH1 (MDA-5 protein precursor gene). At the protein level, we also verified a decreased RIG-I and IRF-3 expression in the decidual placenta from the Zika-infected obese group, regardless of microcephaly. This finding shows, for the first time, that obesity associated with ZIKV infection leads to an impaired type I IFN downstream signaling pathway in the maternal-fetal interface.

Medienart:

E-Artikel

Erscheinungsjahr:

2023

Erschienen:

2023

Enthalten in:

Zur Gesamtaufnahme - volume:15

Enthalten in:

Viruses - 15(2023), 2 vom: 23. Jan.

Sprache:

Englisch

Beteiligte Personen:

Branco, Anna Cláudia Calvielli Castelo [VerfasserIn]
De Oliveira, Emily Araujo [VerfasserIn]
Pereira, Nátalli Zanete [VerfasserIn]
Alberca, Ricardo Wesley [VerfasserIn]
Duarte-Neto, Amaro Nunes [VerfasserIn]
Da Silva, Luiz Fernando Ferraz [VerfasserIn]
Luiz, Fernanda Guedes [VerfasserIn]
Pereira, Naiura Vieira [VerfasserIn]
Sotto, Mirian Nacagami [VerfasserIn]
Dejani, Naiara Naiana [VerfasserIn]
Rondó, Patrícia Helen Carvalho [VerfasserIn]
Avvad-Portari, Elyzabeth [VerfasserIn]
De Vasconcelos, Zilton Farias Meira [VerfasserIn]
Duarte, Alberto José da Silva [VerfasserIn]
Azamor, Tamiris [VerfasserIn]
Sato, Maria Notomi [VerfasserIn]

Links:

Volltext

Themen:

Antiviral Agents
Antiviral factors
Interferon Type I
Journal Article
Obesity
Placenta
Pregnancy
Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't
Zika virus

Anmerkungen:

Date Completed 01.03.2023

Date Revised 11.04.2023

published: Electronic

Citation Status MEDLINE

doi:

10.3390/v15020320

funding:

Förderinstitution / Projekttitel:

PPN (Katalog-ID):

NLM353576174