Herpes Simplex Virus 1 has been shown to contribute to Alzheimer's and cognitive decline.
Scientists tagged herpes virus inside cells with green fluorescent protein and used live confocal imaging to watch HSV1 particles exit the cell nucleus and then bud into cellular membranes containing amyloid precursor protein (APP).
This interaction between viral particles and cellular APP results in changes in cellular architecture and the distribution of APP, the major component of senile plaques found in the brains of Alzheimer's disease patients
Results from this study indicate that most intracellular HSV1 particles undergo frequent, dynamic interplay with APP, which facilitates viral transport while interfering with normal APP transport and distribution.
This dynamic interaction reveals a mechanism by which HSV1 infection could lead to Alzheimer's disease.
In developed countries such as the U.S., approximately 20 percent of children are infected with HSV1 prior to the age of five. By the second and third decades of life, as much as 60 percent of the population is infected, and late-in-life infection rate reaches 85 percent.
Researchers recommend people treat a cold sore as quickly as possible to minimize the amount of time the virus is actively traveling through a person's nervous system. The faster a cold sore is treated, the faster the HSV1 returns to a dormant stage.
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