Thevirus del herpes simplex HSV-1and theAlzheimer’sthey are related. This is the conclusion reached by researchers from the Autonomous University of Madrid (UAM) and the Center for Molecular Biology “Severo Ochoa” in an article published by theJournal of Neuroscience Researchin its latest edition.
Patients suffering from Alzheimer’s disease present in their brains two characteristic pathological structures: senile plaques composed mainly ofbeta-amyloid peptide aggregatesand intracellular fibrillar tangles composed of abnormally aggregated and phosphorylated tau protein. This last characteristic, thetau hyperphosphorylation, is an event early in the pathological course that can lead to neuronal death.
Now, the new work presents a series of evidences that relate the infection of this virus (commonly known to cause “labial pupae”) with the aberrant phosphorylation of the tau protein in neurons caused by Alzheimer’s, both in humans and in mice. .
Is Alzheimer’s an infectious disease?
Although Alzheimer’s disease was described more than a century ago, its causes are still unknown today. This in at least 99% of cases, which is called “sporadic Alzheimer’s disease.” The remaining 1% of cases are attributable to mutations in three genes (beta-amyloid peptide precursor protein and presenilins 1 and 2).
Recent studies suggest that several infectious agents could be involved in the origin of Alzheimer’s disease. In recent years, HSV-1 infection has been postulated as an important susceptibility factor for Alzheimer’s. In fact, the presence of viruses in the brain significantly increases the risk of developing the disease in people with at least one allele 4 of the apolipoprotein E (APOE4) gene, the main genetic risk factor associated with the disease. The new results conclude that theHSV-1 infection of the brain and its successive reactivations can trigger a cascade of pathological eventsthat, ultimately, could contribute to the massive neuronal death characteristic of Alzheimer’s disease.
