Zika virus infects placenta, claim researchers!

Zee Media Bureau

New Delhi: Researchers led by an Indian-origin scientist have said and discovered that how Zika virus infects placenta.

The deadly zika virus can infect and replicate in immune cells from the placenta without even killing them.

According to the researchers, little was known about how the virus was replicating in placenta and in what cell type.

The finding showed that Zika virus could infect Hofbauer cells -- placental macrophages -- in cell culture.

Hofbauer cells are foetally derived, in contrast with other immune cells found in the placenta called decidual macrophages, which are maternally derived.

They are thought to be more tolerant and less prone to inflammatory responses than other immune cells, the researchers said.

However, signs of antiviral and inflammatory responses were detected in infected Hofbauer cells.

(With IANS inputs)