Herpes virus in Alzheimer's disease: relation to progression of the disease |
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Authors: | Ilaria Carbone Tiziana Lazzarotto Manuela Ianni Elisa Porcellini Paola Forti Eliezer Masliah Liliana Gabrielli Federico Licastro |
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Institution: | 1. Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine (DIMES), School of Medicine, University of Bologna, Bologna, Italy;2. Department of Experimental, Diagnostic and Specialty Medicine, Operative Unit of Clinical Microbiology, (DIMES), University Hospital of Bologna, Bologna, Italy;3. Department of Medical and Surgical Sciences, University Hospital of Bologna, Bologna, Italy;4. Department of Neuroscience and Pathology, University of California–San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA |
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Abstract: | Studies regarding different viruses of the herpes family, such as cytomegalovirus (CMV), Epstein–Barr virus (EBV), or human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) in Alzheimer's disease (AD) are scarce. DNA from peripheral blood leukocytes (PBL) and brain samples were analyzed for the presence of CMV, EBV, or HHV-6. All samples were negative for CMV. EBV positivity was 6% in AD brains, whereas 45% of PBL samples from AD patients and 31% from controls were positive for EBV (p = 0.05). HHV-6 showed a 23% positivity in PBL samples from AD and 4% from controls (p = 0.002). 17% of AD brains were HHV-6 positive. Within a group of elderly individuals, followed up for 5 years, EBV-positive or HHV-6–positive PBL increased in those who developed clinical AD. Virus serological positivity was also investigated, and IgG levels for CMV and EBV antigens were also increased in those subjects who developed AD during the follow-up. Our findings suggest that EBV and HHV-6 may be environmental risk factors for cognitive deterioration and progression to AD in elderly persons. |
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Keywords: | Alzheimer's disease Herpes virus latency Quantitative real time PCR Nested PCR Peripheral blood samples Brain tissue samples Inflammatory plasma markers and cognitive decline |
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