The spectrum of neuropathological changes associated with congenital Zika virus infection.

A major concern associated with ZIKV infection is the increased incidence of microcephaly with frequent calcifications in infants born from infected mothers. To date, postmortem analysis of the central nervous system (CNS) in congenital infection is limited to individual reports or small series. We report a comprehensive neuropathological study in ten newborn babies infected with ZIKV during pregnancy, including the spinal cords and dorsal root ganglia (DRG), and also muscle, pituitaries, eye, systemic organs, and placentas. Using in situ hybridization (ISH) and electron microscopy, we investigated the role of direct viral infection in the pathogenesis of the lesions. Nine women had Zika symptoms between the 4th and 18th and one in the 28th gestational week. Two babies were born at 32, one at 34 and 36 weeks each and six at term. The cephalic perimeter was reduced in four, and normal or enlarged in six patients, although the brain weights were lower than expected. All had arthrogryposis, except the patient infected at 28 weeks gestation. We defined three patterns of CNS lesions, with different patterns of destructive, calcification, hypoplasia, and migration disturbances. Ventriculomegaly was severe in the first pattern due to midbrain damage with aqueduct stenosis/distortion. The second pattern had small brains and mild/moderate (ex-vacuo) ventriculomegaly. The third pattern, a well-formed brain with mild calcification, coincided with late infection. The absence of descending fibres resulted in hypoplastic basis pontis, pyramids, and cortico-spinal tracts. Spinal motor cell loss explained the intrauterine akinesia, arthrogryposis, and neurogenic muscle atrophy. DRG, dorsal nerve roots, and columns were normal. Lympho-histiocytic inflammation was mild. ISH showed meningeal, germinal matrix, and neocortical infection, consistent with neural progenitors death leading to proliferation and migration disorders. A secondary ischemic process may explain the destructive lesions. In conclusion, we characterized the destructive and malformative consequences of ZIKV in the nervous system, as reflected in the topography and severity of lesions, anatomic localization of the virus, and timing of infection during gestation. Our findings indicate a developmental vulnerability of the immature CNS, and shed light on possible mechanisms of brain injury of this newly recognized public health threat.

HPV vaccines: their pathology-based discovery, benefits, and adverse effects.

The discovery of the human papillomavirus (HPV) vaccine illustrates the power of in situ-based pathologic analysis in better understanding and curing diseases. The 2 available HPV vaccines have markedly reduced the incidence of cervical intraepithelial neoplasias, genital warts, and cervical cancer throughout the world. Concerns about HPV vaccine safety have led some physicians, health care officials, and parents to refuse providing the recommended vaccination to the target population. The aims of the study were to discuss the discovery of HPV vaccine and review scientific data related to measurable outcomes from the use of HPV vaccines. The strong type-specific immunity against HPV in humans has been known for more than 25 years. Multiple studies confirm the positive risk benefit of HPV vaccination with minimal documented adverse effects. The most common adverse effect, injection site pain, occurred in about 10% of girls and was less than the rate reported for other vaccines. Use of HPV vaccine should be expanded into more diverse populations, mainly in low-resource settings.

A comparative analysis of clinical and molecular factors with the stage of cervical cancer in a Brazilian cohort.

UNLABELLED: Cell cycle protein expression plays an important role in the pathophysiology of cervical cancer. However, few studies have attempted to correlate the use of these biomarkers with the clinical progression of the tumor. OBJECTIVES: 1) To analyze the expression of Ki-67, p53 and p16(INK4a) in cervical cancer, 2) to correlate the relative expression of these proteins as well as clinical parameters with the stage of disease, and 3) to determine the HPV DNA prevalence and subtype distribution. METHODS: Tissue Micro-Arrays (TMA) from patients with invasive cervical cancer (ICC) and controls were analyzed. HPV DNA detection was done by PCR and in situ hybridization. Ki-67, p53 and p16(INK4a) were analyzed by immunohistochemistry; clinical data was derived from the chart review. RESULTS: Advanced tumor stage (III and IV) was strongly associated (p<0.005) with advanced age (>55 years old), with more than four pregnancies and with the lack of formal education. HPV DNA was found in 94.3% of cases with the most prevalent types being HPV16 (67.5%), followed by HPV33 (12.0%) and HPV35 (3.6%). High expression of Ki-67 and p16 was more common in the advanced FIGO stages (p = 0.023). Women with HPV16 tended to be younger (50.9 years; SE 1.9) compared to women with other types (59.9 years; SE 2.8). CONCLUSION: We found that Ki-67 and p16 expression were independently associated with the tumor stage. We also noted that about 1/3 of the cervical cancers in this Brazilian cohort were not associated with HPV types directly targeted by the current HPV vaccines.