TY - JOUR T1 - Preexisting antibodies can protect against congenital cytomegalovirus infection in monkeys JF - bioRxiv DO - 10.1101/127647 SP - 127647 AU - Cody S. Nelson AU - Diana Vera Cruz AU - Dollnovan Tran AU - Kristy M. Bialas AU - Lisa Stamper AU - Huali Wu AU - Margaret Gilbert AU - Robert Blair AU - Xavier Alvarez AU - Hannah Itell AU - Meng Chen AU - Ashlesha Deshpande AU - Flavia Chiuppesi AU - Felix Wussow AU - Don J. Diamond AU - Nathan Vandergrift AU - Mark R. Walter AU - Peter A. Barry AU - Michael Cohen-Wolkowiez AU - Katia Koelle AU - Amitinder Kaur AU - Sallie R. Permar Y1 - 2017/01/01 UR - http://biorxiv.org/content/early/2017/04/15/127647.abstract N2 - Human cytomegalovirus (HCMV) is the most common congenital infection and a known cause of microcephaly, sensorineural hearing loss, and cognitive impairment among newborns worldwide. Natural maternal HCMV immunity reduces the incidence of congenital infection, but does not prevent the disease altogether. We employed a nonhuman primate model of congenital CMV infection to investigate the ability of preexisting antibodies to protect against placental CMV transmission. Pregnant, CD4+ T cell-depleted, rhesus CMV (RhCMV)-seronegative rhesus monkeys were treated with either standardly-produced hyperimmune globulin (HIG) from RhCMV-seropositive macaques or dose-optimized, potently RhCMV-neutralizing HIG prior to intravenous challenge with an RhCMV swarm. HIG passive infusion provided complete protection against fetal loss in both groups, and the potently-neutralizing HIG additionally inhibited placental transmission of RhCMV. Our findings suggest that antibody alone at the time of primary infection can prevent congenital CMV and therefore could be a primary target of vaccines to eliminate this neonatal infection. ER -