Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection

Abstract

Infekcija citomegalovirusom (CMV) najučestalija je prirođena virusna infekcija u ljudi i glavni je uzrok oštećenja mozga u perinatalnom razdoblju. Zbog nastanka encefalitisa i razvojnih oštećenja, kao posljedicu ima trajne neurološke poremećaje. Infekcija humanim citomegalovirusom (HCMV) kod većine osoba s normalnom funkcijom imunološkog sustava ne izaziva klinički manifesnu bolest. Zbog toga je infekcija HCMV-om u trudnoći često neprepoznata, što predstavlja dodatan rizik za razvoj kongenitalne infekcije HCMV-om. Uz to što virus ima direktan citopatski učinak na neurone tijekom razvoja, samo prisustvo virusa u moždanom parenhimu dovodi do aktivacije upalnih stanica domaćina i niza patohistoloških lezija koje odgovaraju nastanku encefalitisa. Zbog toga bi daljnja istraživanja trebala biti usmjerena na razvoj sigurnog i učinkovitog cjepiva i lijekova koji će smanjiti rizik infekcije majki, a u slučaju prijelaza virusa s majke na dijete imati mogućnost spriječiti razvoj kongenitalne infekcije CMV-om.Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection is the most common congenital viral infection in humans and the major cause of wide-spread encephalitis and developmental abnormalities of the newborn brain which can lead to several neurological consequences. Infection with the human CMV (HCMV) in patients with normal immune function does not cause a clinically manifest disease. As the HCMV infection in pregnancy is often unrecognized, it represents an additional risk for development of congenital HCMV infection. Beside the direct cytopathic effect of CMV on neurons during neurogenesis, the presence of the virus in brain parenchyme leads to the activation of host inflammatory response and development of pathohistological lesions. Therefore, further studies should be focused on development of safe and effective vaccines and drugs that will reduce the risk of maternal infection and in case of virus transfer from mother to child have the ability to prevent the development of congenital CMV infection