Via STAT: In mouse study, Zika damages cells in testes, impedes fertility. Excerpt:
The Zika virus attacks cells in mouse testes crucial for sperm and sex hormone generation and hampers reproduction, according to new research that raises the possibility that the virus could affect fertility in men.
There are major caveats to the research, which was published Monday in the journal Nature. The study was conducted in mice, and many findings from mouse studies do not hold up in people. The researchers also used a very powerful dose of Zika when infecting the mice.
And even if the same outcomes bear out in people, researchers have no idea what percentage of men who contract Zika would be affected or just how damaging the infection could be. Many men, for example, can see a drop in their sperm count without having a harder time conceiving a child.
But the findings were enough for the paper’s authors to call for further study of the issue in men who have contracted Zika to determine whether the virus affects the male reproductive tract over time.
“This is what we see in mice,” said Dr. Michael Diamond, a viral immunologist at Washington University School of Medicine and senior author of the paper. “How much of this applies to humans? That’s the key question that needs to be addressed in longitudinal studies.”
Nikos Vasilakis, a Zika expert at the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston who was not involved with the new work, praised the research and said it warranted additional studies in monkeys and possibly finding a group of infected men to study.
“The key is, would that translate as well in humans?” Vasilakis said about the study’s findings.
