Zika Virus Infection in Dexamethasone-immunosuppressed Mice Demonstrating Disseminated Infection with Multi-organ Involvement Including Orchitis Effectively Treated by Recombinant Type I Interferons

Chan, Jasper Fuk-Woo; Zhang, Anna Jinxia; Chan, Chris Chung-Sing; Yip, Cyril Chik-Yan; Mak, Winger Wing-Nga; Zhu, Houshun; Poon, Vincent Kwok-Man; Tee, Kah-Meng; Zhu, Zheng; Cai, Jian-Piao; Tsang, Jessica Oi-Ling; Chik, Kenn Ka-Heng; Yin, Feifei; Chan, Kwok-Hung; Kok, Kin-Hang; Jin, Dong-Yan; Au-Yeung, Rex Kwok-Him; Yuen, Kwok-Yung

To establish a novel mouse model for ZIKV infection, we compared the clinical, histological, and virological findings of male (group 1) and female (group 2) mice with dexamethasone immunosuppression and ZIKV inoculation with those of the appropriate controls (groups 3 to 8) (Table 1 ). In terms of the clinical parameters, the dexamethasone-immunosuppressed mice developed mild (~5%) weight loss (Fig. 1A) and no mortality at 5 dpi ( Fig. 1B and C) . The weight losses of the dexamethasone-immunosuppressed mice with ZIKV inoculation (groups 1 and 2) Table 1 Eleven groups of mice receiving different regimens of virus inoculation, dexamethasone, and antiviral treatment in this study a .