Human immune globulin treatment controls Zika viremia in pregnant rhesus macaques

Dawn M. Dudley, Michelle R. Koenig, Laurel M. Stewart, Matthew R. Semler, Christina M. Newman, Phoenix M. Shepherd, Keisuke Yamamoto, Meghan E. Breitbach, Michele Schotzko, Sarah Kohn, Kathleen M. Antony, Hongyu Qiu, Priyadarshini Tunga, Deborah M. Anderson, Wendi Guo, Maria Dennis, Tulika Singh, Sierra Rybarczyk, Andrea M. Weiler, Elaina RazoAnn Mitzey, Xiankun Zeng, Jens C. Eickhoff, Emma L. Mohr, Heather A. Simmons, Michael K. Fritsch, Andres Mejia, Matthew T. Aliota, Thomas C. Friedrich, Thaddeus G. Golos, Shantha Kodihalli, Sallie R. Permar, David H. O’Connor

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

7 Scopus citations

Abstract

There are currently no approved drugs to treat Zika virus (ZIKV) infection during pregnancy. Hyperimmune globulin products such as VARIZIG and WinRho are FDA-approved to treat conditions during pregnancy such as Varicella Zoster virus infection and Rh-incompatibility. We administered ZIKV-specific human immune globulin as a treatment in pregnant rhesus macaques one day after subcutaneous ZIKV infection. All animals controlled ZIKV viremia following the treatment and generated robust levels of anti-Zika virus antibodies in their blood. No adverse fetal or infant outcomes were identified in the treated animals, yet the placebo control treated animals also did not have signs related to congenital Zika syndrome (CZS). Human immune globulin may be a viable prophylaxis and treatment option for ZIKV infection during pregnancy, however, more studies are required to fully assess the impact of this treatment to prevent CZS.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Article numbere0266664
JournalPloS one
Volume17
Issue number7 July
DOIs
StatePublished - Jul 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Dudley et al. This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.

Keywords

  • Animals
  • Female
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulins
  • Infant
  • Macaca mulatta
  • Pregnancy
  • Pregnancy Complications, Infectious
  • Viremia
  • Zika Virus
  • Zika Virus Infection

PubMed: MeSH publication types

  • Journal Article
  • Research Support, N.I.H., Extramural

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