Alzheimer News:

New Research Adds to Suspicion That Herpes Is Linked to Alzheimer's Disease

New findings by University of Rochester researchers, published online in the journal Neurobiology of Aging, add scientific support to the longtime suspicion by some scientists that herpes somehow plays a role in bringing about Alzheimer's disease.

A form of the ApoE gene known as ApoE-4, known to be a major risk factor for Alzheimer's disease, appears to put out the welcome mat for the virus that causes cold sores, allowing the virus to be more active in the brain compared to other forms of the gene, according to the researchers.

ApoE-4, which after advanced age is the leading known risk factor for getting Alzheimer's disease, was linked by the researchers to herpes simplex 1 or HSV, which infects more than 80 percent of Americans and causes cold sores around the mouth.

The findings from a group at the University of Rochester Medical Center show that the particular form of the gene that puts people at risk also creates a fertile environment for herpes in the brain, allowing the virus to be more active than other forms of the ApoE gene permit.

"This work raises the question whether herpes in concert with ApoE-4 increases the risk of Alzheimer's disease. The data suggests that ApoE-4 may support the ability of HSV to be a more virulent pathogen," said Dr. Howard Federoff, professor of Neurology, Medicine, and Microbiology & Immunology.

The findings, based on measurements of the activity levels of the herpes virus in the brains of mice with different forms of the human ApoE gene, bring together several lines of research that have pointed toward a possible role for herpes in Alzheimer's disease.

Source: Medical Week staff, week of Jan. 1, 2007