Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract.
Zika virus (ZIKV) is unique among mosquito-borne flaviviruses in that it is also vertically and sexually transmitted by humans. The male reproductive tract is thought to be a ZIKV reservoir; however, the reported magnitude and duration of viral persistence in male genital tissues vary widely in huma...
Published in: | PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
---|---|
Main Authors: | , , , , , , , , , , , , |
Format: | Article in Journal/Newspaper |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
2022
|
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/article/a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 |
id |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 |
---|---|
record_format |
openpolar |
spelling |
ftdoajarticles:oai:doaj.org/article:a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 2023-05-15T15:13:32+02:00 Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. Erin E Ball Patricia A Pesavento Koen K A Van Rompay M Kevin Keel Anil Singapuri Jose P Gomez-Vazquez Dawn M Dudley David H O'Connor Meghan E Breitbach Nicholas J Maness Blake Schouest Antonito Panganiban Lark L Coffey 2022-07-01T00:00:00Z https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/article/a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 EN eng Public Library of Science (PLoS) https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/article/a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 7, p e0010566 (2022) Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 article 2022 ftdoajarticles https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 2022-12-30T22:15:52Z Zika virus (ZIKV) is unique among mosquito-borne flaviviruses in that it is also vertically and sexually transmitted by humans. The male reproductive tract is thought to be a ZIKV reservoir; however, the reported magnitude and duration of viral persistence in male genital tissues vary widely in humans and non-human primate models. ZIKV tissue and cellular tropism and potential effects on male fertility also remain unclear. The objective of this study was to resolve these questions by analyzing archived genital tissues from 51 ZIKV-inoculated male macaques and correlating data on plasma viral kinetics, tissue tropism, and ZIKV-induced pathological changes in the reproductive tract. We hypothesized that ZIKV would persist in the male macaque genital tract for longer than there was detectable viremia, where it would localize to germ and epithelial cells and associate with lesions. We detected ZIKV RNA and infectious virus in testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle, and prostate gland. In contrast to prepubertal males, sexually mature macaques were significantly more likely to harbor persistent ZIKV RNA or infectious virus somewhere in the genital tract, with detection as late as 60 days post-inoculation. ZIKV RNA localized primarily to testicular stem cells/sperm precursors and epithelial cells, including Sertoli cells, epididymal duct epithelium, and glandular epithelia of the seminal vesicle and prostate gland. ZIKV infection was associated with microscopic evidence of inflammation in the epididymis and prostate gland of sexually mature males, pathologies that were absent in uninfected controls, which could have significant effects on male fertility. The findings from this study increase our understanding of persistent ZIKV infection which can inform risk of sexual transmission during assisted reproductive therapies as well as potential impacts on male fertility. Article in Journal/Newspaper Arctic Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles Arctic PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases 16 7 e0010566 |
institution |
Open Polar |
collection |
Directory of Open Access Journals: DOAJ Articles |
op_collection_id |
ftdoajarticles |
language |
English |
topic |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
spellingShingle |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 Erin E Ball Patricia A Pesavento Koen K A Van Rompay M Kevin Keel Anil Singapuri Jose P Gomez-Vazquez Dawn M Dudley David H O'Connor Meghan E Breitbach Nicholas J Maness Blake Schouest Antonito Panganiban Lark L Coffey Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
topic_facet |
Arctic medicine. Tropical medicine RC955-962 Public aspects of medicine RA1-1270 |
description |
Zika virus (ZIKV) is unique among mosquito-borne flaviviruses in that it is also vertically and sexually transmitted by humans. The male reproductive tract is thought to be a ZIKV reservoir; however, the reported magnitude and duration of viral persistence in male genital tissues vary widely in humans and non-human primate models. ZIKV tissue and cellular tropism and potential effects on male fertility also remain unclear. The objective of this study was to resolve these questions by analyzing archived genital tissues from 51 ZIKV-inoculated male macaques and correlating data on plasma viral kinetics, tissue tropism, and ZIKV-induced pathological changes in the reproductive tract. We hypothesized that ZIKV would persist in the male macaque genital tract for longer than there was detectable viremia, where it would localize to germ and epithelial cells and associate with lesions. We detected ZIKV RNA and infectious virus in testis, epididymis, seminal vesicle, and prostate gland. In contrast to prepubertal males, sexually mature macaques were significantly more likely to harbor persistent ZIKV RNA or infectious virus somewhere in the genital tract, with detection as late as 60 days post-inoculation. ZIKV RNA localized primarily to testicular stem cells/sperm precursors and epithelial cells, including Sertoli cells, epididymal duct epithelium, and glandular epithelia of the seminal vesicle and prostate gland. ZIKV infection was associated with microscopic evidence of inflammation in the epididymis and prostate gland of sexually mature males, pathologies that were absent in uninfected controls, which could have significant effects on male fertility. The findings from this study increase our understanding of persistent ZIKV infection which can inform risk of sexual transmission during assisted reproductive therapies as well as potential impacts on male fertility. |
format |
Article in Journal/Newspaper |
author |
Erin E Ball Patricia A Pesavento Koen K A Van Rompay M Kevin Keel Anil Singapuri Jose P Gomez-Vazquez Dawn M Dudley David H O'Connor Meghan E Breitbach Nicholas J Maness Blake Schouest Antonito Panganiban Lark L Coffey |
author_facet |
Erin E Ball Patricia A Pesavento Koen K A Van Rompay M Kevin Keel Anil Singapuri Jose P Gomez-Vazquez Dawn M Dudley David H O'Connor Meghan E Breitbach Nicholas J Maness Blake Schouest Antonito Panganiban Lark L Coffey |
author_sort |
Erin E Ball |
title |
Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
title_short |
Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
title_full |
Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
title_fullStr |
Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
title_full_unstemmed |
Zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
title_sort |
zika virus persistence in the male macaque reproductive tract. |
publisher |
Public Library of Science (PLoS) |
publishDate |
2022 |
url |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/article/a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 |
geographic |
Arctic |
geographic_facet |
Arctic |
genre |
Arctic |
genre_facet |
Arctic |
op_source |
PLoS Neglected Tropical Diseases, Vol 16, Iss 7, p e0010566 (2022) |
op_relation |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2727 https://doaj.org/toc/1935-2735 1935-2727 1935-2735 doi:10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 https://doaj.org/article/a372aefc8b984b3a9a64cf04fe0bf837 |
op_doi |
https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pntd.0010566 |
container_title |
PLOS Neglected Tropical Diseases |
container_volume |
16 |
container_issue |
7 |
container_start_page |
e0010566 |
_version_ |
1766344083344719872 |