Zika Virus Infection at Different Pregnancy Stages: Anatomopathological Findings, Target Cells and Viral Persistence in Placental Tissues

Lucia de Noronha; Camila Zanluca; Marion Burger; Andreia Akemi Suzukawa; Marina Azevedo; Patricia Z. Rebutini; Iolanda Maria Novadzki; Laurina Setsuko Tanabe; Mayra Marinho Presibella; Claudia Nunes Duarte dos Santos

The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. Photomicrography of a placental sample stained with H&E showing syncytial knots (arrows) and sprouts (*). (B) Quantification of knots and sprouts. A significant increase in the number of placental sprouts was observed in the ZIKV-positive group (n=6) compared to the negative controls (n=5). (C) Immunostaining with CD163 highlights Hofbauer cell hyperplasia in ZIKV-infected placentas. (D) Quantification of CD163+ Hofbauer cells. The average numbers of CD163+ cells and CD163+ cells per villus were significantly higher in the ZIKV group (n=5) than in the negative controls (n=3). (B and D) Thirty high-power fields (HPFs = 400×) for each case were randomly selected for counting. The mean of the 30 fields was used for the statistical analyses. The Zika-infected and negative control groups were compared using the Mann-Whitney test. The asterisks indicate statistically significant differences between the groups (p<0.05). The copyright holder for this preprint (which was not peer-reviewed) is the author/funder. . https://doi.org/10.1101/370528 doi: bioRxiv preprint