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. 2016 Nov 1;9(11):1349-1355.
doi: 10.1242/dmm.026674. Epub 2016 Sep 23.

HSV presence in brains of individuals without dementia: the TASTY brain series

Jan Olsson  1 , Hugo Lövheim  2 , Emma Honkala  1 , Pekka J Karhunen  3 , Fredrik Elgh  1 , Eloise H Kok  4
Affiliations

HSV presence in brains of individuals without dementia: the TASTY brain series

Jan Olsson et al. Dis Model Mech. .

Abstract

Herpes simplex virus (HSV) type 1 affects a majority of the population and recent evidence suggests involvement in Alzheimer's disease aetiology. We investigated the prevalence of HSV type 1 and 2 in the Tampere Autopsy Study (TASTY) brain samples using PCR and sero-positivity in plasma, and associations with Alzheimer's disease neuropathology. HSV was shown to be present in human brain tissue in 11/584 (1.9%) of samples in the TASTY cohort, of which six had Alzheimer's disease neuropathological amyloid beta (Aβ) aggregations. Additionally, serological data revealed 86% of serum samples tested were IgG-positive for HSV. In conclusion, we report epidemiological evidence of the presence of HSV in brain tissue free from encephalitis symptoms in a cohort most closely representing the general population (a minimum prevalence of 1.9%). Whereas 6/11 samples with HSV DNA in the brain tissue had Aβ aggregations, most of those with Aβ aggregations did not have HSV present in the brain tissue.

Keywords: Alzheimer's disease; Amyloid beta aggregations; Herpes simplex virus; Human brain tissue; PCR detection; Paraffin-embedded samples.

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Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no competing or financial interests.

Figures

Fig. 1.
Fig. 1.
The prevalence of HSV DNA positivity in cases separated by Aβ pathology presence. Cases with HSV DNA present are depicted in dark grey, versus those without HSV DNA, split into groups with and without Aβ positivity.
Fig. 2.
Fig. 2.
TASTY cohort characteristics. Changes in age distribution of HSV DNA presence in brain tissue, APOEε4 carriership, Aβ aggregations, NFT, and combined neuropathology, as well as Alzheimer's disease cases of the TASTY cohort. Please note that only those cases with neuropathology data for both Aβ aggregations and NFT were included in the figure.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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