The various antibodies are leading to the development of antiviral therapies and vaccines against Zika virus. Zika virus disease is mainly spread by mosquitoes. With most people infected the result is a mild infection and it is not harmful. However, the risks are potentially serious for pregnant women. Here there is medical evidence that the virus causes birth defects – in particular, abnormally small heads (microcephaly).
The virus is proving difficult to develop vaccines against. Here Zika shares similarities with dengue virus. However, the antibodies taken from a patient and used in the recent study are different. These antibodies show good specificity against the virus and this could reduce potential side effects. With some other Zika antibodies tested, one side-effect is enhanced dengue infection, should a patient contract this other mosquito-carried infection.
The new research comes from the laboratory of Qihui Wang. In his study, Dr. Wang isolated 13 monoclonal antibodies from the blood of a Zika virus-infected patient. The man had returned from Venezuela to China.
The subsequent testing found that two of the 13 antibodies, dubbed Z23 and Z3L1, were able to eliminate Zika virus in studies on mice. Importantly the mice showed no increased susceptibility to dengue fever. Symptoms of dengue fever include a high fever, headache, vomiting, muscle and joint pains, and a characteristic skin rash.
The new antibodies appear to block infection be attacking the envelope protein that surrounds Zika virus. This prevents the virus from entering and infecting human cells. Despite the initial success, further research is required.
The rush for antibodies is important given the spread of Zika. Since 2015, some 80,000 people in 69 countries have been reported as infected. This means, to offer greater protection in future years, preventative and treatment approaches are required.
The findings are published in the journal Science Translational Medicine. The research paper is called “Molecular determinants of human neutralizing antibodies isolated from a patient infected with Zika virus.”
