Zika virus ‘harms baby brain collagen development’

From SciDevNet
June 25, 2020

Zika virus can hamper vital collagen development in the brains of babies whose mothers were infected with the disease while pregnant, new research reveals, as the search for a vaccine continues.

Collagen is crucial to the circulatory system, as it regulates the compression of blood vessels. A large amount of the collagen found in the human brain is located inside vein tissue.

The research findings could explain the deaths of babies with microcephaly, a birth defect that causes a baby to be born with a smaller head and often smaller brains that may not have developed properly.

Read more