Congenital cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in a population with high maternal seroprevalence

• Grant number: 06/06037-0
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships abroad - Research
• Start date: July 16, 2007
• End date: December 15, 2007
• Field of knowledge: Health Sciences - Medicine - Maternal and Child Health
• Principal Investigator: Aparecida Yulie Yamamoto
• Grantee: Aparecida Yulie Yamamoto
• Host Investigator: William J Britt
• Host Institution: Faculdade de Medicina de Ribeirão Preto (FMRP). Universidade de São Paulo (USP). Ribeirão Preto , SP, Brazil
• Institution abroad: University of Alabama (UA), United States

Abstract

Congenital CMV infection is an important cause of CNS disease and hearing loss in children. In contrast to other congenital infections, congenital CMV infection can follow non-primary maternal infection. Recent findings have documented that damaging congenital infection can be result of maternal CMV reinfection. This study is a result of collaboration between investigators at the Faculty of Medicine of Ribeirão Preto of University of São Paulo and the University of Alabama in Birmingham, USA. Both groups are interested in the role of viral genetic diversity plays in the natural history and pathogenesis of CMV infections with an emphasis on congenital infection as result of maternal reinfection in highly seroimune populations, because it is crucial for vaccine study design and testing. Although the proposal of this project was preapred in the United state , preliminary data have been generated by the Brazilian group. In this project, ongoing study in the Sotheastern Brazil where maternal CMV seroprevalence is near universal and the incidence of congenital infection is 1% will be extended.We propose to test the hypothesis that congenital CMV infection in offspring of this highly seroimune maternal population is very frequent because reinfections with genetically diverse strains of CMV is common in this population. To address this hypothesis, the study proposes the following specific aims: 1. Determine the maternal factor risks for the delivering of a congenitally infected infant; 2.Determine the rate of serologically defined maternal CMV reinfection in this population ; 3. Determine the genetic heterogeneity of CMV associated with congenital infections and relate these genetic differences to maternal reinfections.Finally, this proposal deals with an important cause of an adverse outcome of pregnancy and one that perhaps could be prevented as we learn more about the natural history of maternal infections that lead to fetal infection. (AU)