Viral role in Alzheimer’s Disease discovered

Researchers from Oxford’s Institute of Population Ageing, Tufts University and the University of Manchester have discovered that common viruses appear to play a role in some cases of Alzheimer’s disease (AD). The causes of most cases of Alzheimer’s are currently unknown, but there is growing evidence to suggest microbial organisms are involved, in particular, herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), the so-called cold sore virus. This virus has long been known to reside lifelong, after infection in the peripheral nervous system, usually in a dormant form, from which it can be reactivated by events such as stress and immune-mediated mechanisms. Professor Ruth Itzhaki has been researching the potential role of HSV-1 in AD for more than 30 years, beginning at the University of Manchester, where her team discovered HSV-1 DNA is present in the human brain in a high proportion of older people – the first microbe to be detected definitively in...