Alzheimer's disease cure may come from cold sore virus

William Atkins
Monday, 08 December 2008 22:40

Science - Health

British researchers have discovered that the virus causing cold sores (herpes simplex virus type 1) is also the primary reason why amyloid plaques are found in the brains of Alzheimer’s disease patients. The research may one day lead to a way to effectively treat AD patients and prevent the disease from ever taking away memories.


Ruth F. Itzhaki, from the Department of Life Sciences at the University of Manchester, U.K., lead the research, which also included Matthew A. Wozniak (also from the University of Manchester) and A.P. Mee (from the Department of Medicine, Manchester Royal Informary, U.K., and now with the Directorate of Laboratory Medicine, CMMC, U.K.).

Their paper “Herpes simplex virus type 1 DNA is located within Alzheimer's disease amyloid plaques” appears in The Journal of Pathology.

In it, the three researchers state, “The brains of Alzheimer's disease sufferers are characterized by amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles. However, the cause(s) of these features and those of the disease are unknown, in sporadic cases.”

They added, “We previously showed that herpes simplex virus type 1 [HSV-1] is a strong risk factor for Alzheimer's disease when in the brains of possessors of the type 4 allele of the apolipoprotein E gene (APOE- 4), and that  B-amyloid, the main component of plaques, accumulates in herpes simplex virus type 1-infected cell cultures and mouse brain.”

Previous medical research has shown that most humans are infected with HSV-1, which shows up in their peripheral nervous systems. Twenty to forty percent of those people get cold sores from the virus.

The Itzhaki team discovered that HSV-1 shows up in ninety percent (90%) of plaques in the brains of AD patients.

Read page two for comments and reporting by the Itzhaki team.