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MONDAY, July 30, 2018 (HealthDay News) — Subjects with Alzheimer’s disease have increased levels of two strains of human herpesvirus, according to a study published online July 11 in Neuron<\/i>.<\/p>\n
Ben Readhead, M.B.B.S., from the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York City, and colleagues constructed multiscale networks of the late-onset Alzheimer’s disease-associated virome, integrating genomic, transcriptomic, proteomic, and histopathological data across four brain regions using tissue from human postmortem samples.<\/p>\n
The researchers found that, compared with controls, subjects with Alzheimer’s disease had increased human herpesvirus 6A (HHV-6A) and HHV-7. In two additional, independent, and geographically dispersed cohorts, these results were replicated. Regulatory relationships were seen linking viral abundance and modulators of APP metabolism; HHV-6A induced APBB2<\/i>, APPBP2<\/i>, BIN1<\/i>, BACE1<\/i>, CLU<\/i>, PICALM<\/i>, and PSEN1<\/i>.<\/p>\n
“This study represents a significant advancement in our understanding of the plausibility of the pathogen hypothesis of Alzheimer’s,” a coauthor said in a statement. “If it becomes evident that specific viral species directly contribute to an individual’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s or their rate of progression once diagnosed, then this would offer a new conceptual framework for understanding the emergence and evolution of Alzheimer’s at individual, as well as population, levels.”<\/p>\n