Susana V Bardina, Paul Bunduc, Shashank Tripathi, James Duehr, Justin J Frere, Julia A Brown, Raffael Nachbagauer, Gregory A Foster, David Krysztof, Domenico Tortorella, Susan L Stramer, Adolfo García-Sastre, Florian Krammer, Jean K Lim
Science, 356(6334), 175-180. 14/04/2017
PMID: 28360135
Zika virus (ZIKV) is spreading rapidly into regions around the world where other flaviviruses, such as dengue virus (DENV) and West Nile virus (WNV), are endemic. Antibody-dependent enhancement has been implicated in more severe forms of flavivirus disease, but whether this also applies to ZIKV infection is unclear. Using convalescent plasma from DENV- and WNV-infected individuals, we found substantial enhancement of ZIKV infection in vitro that was mediated through immunoglobulin G engagement of Fcγ receptors. Administration of DENV- or WNV-convalescent plasma into ZIKV-susceptible mice resulted in increased morbidity—including fever, viremia, and viral loads in spinal cord and testes—and increased mortality. Antibody-dependent enhancement may explain the severe disease manifestations associated with recent ZIKV outbreaks and highlights the need to exert great caution when designing …