Incidence of C-X-C Motif Chemokine Ligand 10 Overexpression in Pregnant Women Infected with Zika Virus

Abstract

Background: C-X-C motif chemokine ligand 10 (CXCL10) is a pro-inflammatory cytokine that plays an important role in viral infection. However, it has been linked to helping the Zika virus (ZIKV) penetrate the placental barrier and infect the fetus as a result of its overexpression in pregnant women. Aim and Objectives: The purpose of this study was to assess CXCL10 expression levels in pregnant women infected with ZIKV RNA extracted from serum samples collected from seven pregnant women confirmed to be positive for ZIKV RNA using reverse transcriptase quantitative polymerase chain reaction. Gene expression studies were performed using qPCR to determine the CXCL10 expression levels in samples obtained from pregnant women infected with ZIKV. Material and Methods: Gene expression analysis revealed that CXCL10 was overexpressed in four of the seven samples. Results: CXCL10 overexpression was observed in samples with 4-, 24-, 27-, and 126-fold increases. The association between ZIKV infection and CXCL10 overexpression was statistically significant. Conclusion: The findings of this study confirmed CXCL10 overexpression during ZIKV infection and showed that CXCL10 can be used as a biomarker for the differential diagnosis of ZIKV infection.

Keywords

• biomarker
• c-x-c motif chemokine ligand 10
• diagnosis
• gene expression
• pregnancy
• zika virus