Clinical Scorecard: NIH Awards $2.7 Million for Zika Eye Research

At a Glance

Key Highlights

• A UCLA-led team received a four-year, $2.7 million NIH grant to study how Zika damages the developing eye and investigate potential treatments.
• Congenital Zika syndrome can include retinal and optic nerve damage associated with lifelong visual impairment.
• Prior research identified host-protein interactions with Zika proteins; reducing several host proteins experimentally increased viral replication.
• The team will test previously identified antiviral candidates for effects on retinal damage and normal retinal development in infected newborn mice.
• No Zika vaccines or antiviral treatments are currently approved, and further preclinical research is needed to assess candidate compounds.

Guideline-Based Recommendations

Diagnosis

Management

Monitoring & Follow-up

Risks

• Zika infection during pregnancy can cause ocular abnormalities in infants, including retinal and optic nerve damage.
• Candidate treatments must be assessed for whether they interfere with normal retinal development.
• The safety, efficacy, and suitability of candidate compounds for human trials have not been established.

Patient & Prescribing Data

No patient treatment population is described; the research concerns experimental models of Zika infection and developing eyes.

Previously identified compounds will be evaluated for their ability to prevent or reduce retinal damage in infected newborn mice. No Zika antiviral treatment is currently approved.

Clinical Best Practices

• The project will examine Zika-related ocular effects in RPE cells, human stem cell-derived retinal organoids, and newborn mice.
• Researchers will assess both potential retinal protection and effects on normal retinal development.
• Further preclinical research is required before candidate compounds can be considered for human trials.

Related Resources & Content

• UCLA Health