HomeScience and ResearchScientific ResearchMonkeypox Virus May Hide In Semen For Months, Study Hints

Monkeypox Virus May Hide In Semen For Months, Study Hints

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Research published online today in Nature Microbiology reports the first detection of monkeypox virus in the testes of macaques during the acute stage of the infection.

The team also discovered early signs of chronic infection in two mice who survived viral exposure. Their findings demonstrate the possibility of human sexual transmission of the virus.

Sexual activity between infected patients has been linked to the ongoing 2022 monkeypox outbreak. It is important to understand the biology of monkeypox infection of the testes and virus shedding in semen since the virus can be spread by direct contact with bodily fluids and skin sores.

Researchers at the U.S. Army Medical Research Institute of Infectious Diseases, or USAMRIID, looked at old tissue samples from crab-eating macaques that had been infected with the monkeypox virus. These macaques are a common nonhuman primate model for studying the disease and figuring out how well vaccines and other treatments work against monkeypox.

“We examined tissue samples obtained during both the acute phase of the disease, when infection is at its peak, and the convalescent phase, when infection is gradually subsiding,” as explained by senior author Xiankun (Kevin) Zeng, Ph.D., of USAMRIID. “We detected monkeypox virus in interstitial cells and seminiferous tubules of the testes, as well as the epididymal lumina, which are the sites of sperm production and maturation.”

Zeng emphasized that early evidence of persistent monkeypox virus infection was also observed in two recovering crab-eating macaques that survived the virus challenge.

Histological analysis, a microscopic examination of tissue samples, allowed the USAMRIID team to learn that the monkeypox virus was eradicated from most organs and healed skin lesions during convalescence, but that it persisted in the testes of the macaques for up to 37 days after exposure.

In previous studies, USAMRIID researchers led by Zeng showed that Ebola, Marburg, Nipah, and Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever viruses can survive in nonhuman primate survivors’ immune-suppressed organs.

The eyes, the brain, and the testes are all examples of immune-privileged areas in humans, just like they are in animals.

Even though close contact through sexual activity has been linked to the spread of the monkeypox virus in the current global epidemic, it was not clear whether the virus replicated in the testes or spread through semen.

“Our data provide evidence that monkeypox virus may be shed into semen during both acute and convalescent stages of the disease in crab-eating macaques,” Zeng added. “It seems plausible, therefore, that human transmission in convalescent male patients might occur via semen.” The authors also noted that persistent virus may be cleared over time.

Since this was a retrospective investigation employing archived tissues, virus isolation in semen was not achievable, said Jun Liu, Ph.D.

Further research is needed to understand the origins, dynamics, and implications of viral DNA shed in semen and to confirm whether convalescent monkeypox patients’ semen includes infectious virus.

Furthermore, the crab-eating macaque model may not accurately represent monkeypox in people, according to the investigators.

The disease is more severe and deadly in animals than it is in humans, and the animal incubation time is shorter.

Furthermore, samples from animals exposed to different virus isolates than the one currently circulating were used in this investigation.

Source: 10.1038/s41564-022-01259-w

Image Credit: Getty

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