Cytomegalovirus Is Present in a Very High Proportion of Brains from Vascular Dementia Patients

Neurobiology of Disease

Ruth F. Itzhaki¹  Matthew A. Wozniak¹  Gordon K. Wilcock²  Woan-Ru Lin² 

[1] Department of Care of the Elderly, Frenchay Hospital, Bristol, BS16 1LE, United Kingdom;Molecular Neurobiology Laboratory, Department of Optometry and Neuroscience, UMIST, Manchester, M60 1QD, United Kingdom;

关键词: vascular dementia;    cytomegalovirus;    herpes simplex virus type 1;    human herpesvirus 6;    polymerase chain reaction;    brain;   

DOI  :  

来源: DOAJ

【 摘 要 】

We previously found that herpes simplex type 1 virus (HSV1), when present in brain of carriers of the apolipoprotein E type 4 allele is a strong risk factor for Alzheimer's disease. To find if HSV1 or certain other herpesviruses are involved in vascular dementia (VaD), we searched post mortem brain specimens from patients suffering from VaD for the presence of HSV1, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and human herpesvirus type 6 DNA, using polymerase chain reaction. We have found that a very high proportion of the VaD patients, 93% (14/15), but not of age-matched normals, 34% (10/29), harbor CMV DNA (P = 0.0002); the proportions of the patients harboring the other viruses in brain do not differ significantly from those of the normals. Further studies are needed to reveal whether or not the association of CMV with VaD is causal.

【 授权许可】

Unknown