The cyanobacterial saxitoxin exacerbates neural cell death and brain malformations induced by Zika virus.
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
; 14(3): e0008060, 2020 03.
Article
em En
| MEDLINE
| ID: mdl-32163415
ABSTRACT
The northeast (NE) region of Brazil commonly goes through drought periods, which favor cyanobacterial blooms, capable of producing neurotoxins with implications for human and animal health. The most severe dry spell in the history of Brazil occurred between 2012 and 2016. Coincidently, the highest incidence of microcephaly associated with the Zika virus (ZIKV) outbreak took place in the NE region of Brazil during the same years. In this work, we tested the hypothesis that saxitoxin (STX), a neurotoxin produced in South America by the freshwater cyanobacteria Raphidiopsis raciborskii, could have contributed to the most severe Congenital Zika Syndrome (CZS) profile described worldwide. Quality surveillance showed higher cyanobacteria amounts and STX occurrence in human drinking water supplies of NE compared to other regions of Brazil. Experimentally, we described that STX doubled the quantity of ZIKV-induced neural cell death in progenitor areas of human brain organoids, while the chronic ingestion of water contaminated with STX before and during gestation caused brain abnormalities in offspring of ZIKV-infected immunocompetent C57BL/6J mice. Our data indicate that saxitoxin-producing cyanobacteria is overspread in water reservoirs of the NE and might have acted as a co-insult to ZIKV infection in Brazil. These results raise a public health concern regarding the consequences of arbovirus outbreaks happening in areas with droughts and/or frequent freshwater cyanobacterial blooms.
Texto completo:
1
Bases de dados:
MEDLINE
Assunto principal:
Intoxicação
/
Saxitoxina
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Morte Celular
/
Infecção por Zika virus
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Microcefalia
Tipo de estudo:
Incidence_studies
/
Prognostic_studies
Limite:
Animals
/
Female
/
Humans
País/Região como assunto:
America do sul
/
Brasil
Idioma:
En
Revista:
PLoS Negl Trop Dis
Assunto da revista:
MEDICINA TROPICAL
Ano de publicação:
2020
Tipo de documento:
Article
País de afiliação:
Brasil