The WHO reported that in 2016 an estimated 3.7 billion people had HSV-1 infection, the virus that causes cold sores – around 66.6% of the world’s population aged 0 to 49. Most people with HSV-1 have no symptoms. A new paper provides evidence that a key Alzheimer's protein may be linked to the brain's attempt to protect itself if HSV-1 enters the brain.

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Does the tau protein associated with Alzheimer’s help battle herpes in the brain?

Despite decades of study, neuroscientists aren’t sure exactly why some people develop the clumps of β-amyloid and tangles of phosphorylated tau proteins that are the hallmarks of Alzheimer’s disease. Now, a study adds to the support for a controversial hypothesis that viruses, especially those that cause herpes, may exacerbate or even trigger the neurodegenerative disease.

Herpes simplex virus 1, or HSV-1 for short, is generally milder than its relatives, causing mere cold sores. But it can make its way into the brain, and some have hypothesized this may set off a chain reaction that ultimately leads to the death of neurons. To further investigate this idea, researchers looked for HSV-1 proteins in postmortem brain samples from people with and without Alzheimer’s disease. They found bits of the virus in the same places as phosphorylated tau, suggesting an association. When they introduced the virus into cultured mini-brains grown from stem cells (known as organoids), levels of tau increased—and this rise helped suppress the infection.

“Our study challenges the conventional view of tau as solely harmful, showing that it may initially act as part of the brain’s immune defense,” said senior author Or Shemesh in a statement. And it could point towards new avenues of Alzheimer’s prevention—although much more research on the connection between HSV-1 and the disease is needed before the findings could be translated clinically." #Alzheimers #HSV1 #virology #medicine https://www.science.org/content/article/scienceadviser-does-tau-help-battle-herpes-brain

It is not just a simple Cold Sore after all.

"The Cold Sore Virus Can Infect Your Brain. But How Does It Get Inside?"

https://www.sciencealert.com/the-cold-sore-virus-can-infect-your-brain-but-how-does-it-get-inside

#ScienceAlert #Health #HSV1 #ColdSore

Félicitations à @OlivierSupplisson pour sa magnifique analyse #spatiotemporelle de la #séroprévalence des #herpesvirus (#HSV1, #HSV2, #VZV, #EBV, et #CMV) en #france.

Cet article combine des données massives de #CERBA (>300 000 sérologies) avec de magnifiques #modèles #gaussiens #latents dans #R-INLA !

Ce travail a été réalisé en collaboration avec le centre national de référence #CNR des herpèsvirus.

(n'hésitez pas à nous contacter pour des versions #pdf

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23744235.2024.2365906

Congratulations to @OlivierSupplisson for his beautiful #spatiotemporal analysis of the #seroprevalence of #herpesviruses (#HSV1, #HSV2, #VZV, #EBV, and #CMV in #france

This is massive #data from #CERBA (>300,000 serologies) and beautiful #latent #gaussian #Models in #R-INLA!

https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.1080/23744235.2024.2365906

(don't hesitate to contact us for PDF versions)

@CirbCdf @cnrs @collegedefrance #inserm

research article from 2005:

Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 Infection via the Bloodstream with Apolipoprotein E Dependence in the Gonads Is Influenced by Gender

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15650186

#HSV1 #hormones #herpesvirus #ApoE