United States: Researchers have found that a common virus called cytomegalovirus (HCMV) and which usually causes very thin and mild gut infections which may be somehow linked to a special type of Alzheimer’s disease. The virus might travel from the stomach to the brain, causing brain inflammation and changes like amyloid plaques and tau tangles, which are seen in Alzheimer’s.
While HCMV is usually harmless, it can lead to brain problems in some issues.
These outcomes show the potential for antiviral treatments for this particular form of Alzheimer’s. Current efforts are under way to establish a laboratory marker for patients with persistent HCMV infection and to study antiviral therapy.
As reported by the neurosciencenews.com, many of us expect an exposure to this virus known as cytomegalovirus or HCMV, before adulthood. Cytomegalovirus is a part of nine viruses in a herpes family, though it is not categorized as a sexual transmitted disease. Transmission of the virus is done through contact with body fluids, and replication of the virus is rare.
.@ASU and Banner Alzheimer’s Institute researchers, along with their collaborators, have discovered a surprising link between a chronic gut infection caused by a common virus and the development of #Alzheimer’s disease in a subset of people. Read it here: https://t.co/79t0ZbCiYc pic.twitter.com/GPCA17GdUL
— EurekAlert! (@EurekAlert) December 20, 2024
It emerges from the new study that in some individuals, the virus is capable of becoming active in the gut and, by connecting to the brain via the vagus nerve, can relay messages between the two organs. Once there, the virus can alter the immune system and participate in other alterations that are linked to Alzheimer’s disease.
If the researchers’ hypotheses are adherent, they may find they can judge whether current antiviral medications could care or hinder this type of Alzheimer’s disease. This new research they are working on is on HCMV and they are working to come up with a blood test to tell the people who really need the antiviral medicine and those who don’t.
“We believe that we identified a biologically distinct subtype of Alzheimer’s that might constitute 25% to 45% of patients with this disease,” explained Dr. Ben Readhead, co-first author of the work and a research associate professor at ASU-Banner Neurodegenerative Disease Research Center in Bio design Institute.
“This subtype of Alzheimer’s includes the traditional amyloid plaques and tau tangles – pathological changes at the cellular level that are employed to diagnose the disease – as well as exhibits a pattern of virus, antibodies, and immune cells in the brain that are unique to this particular subtype.”
