Scientists have discovered a potential link between repeated head injuries and the development of Alzheimer's disease and dementia. A study using 3D human brain tissue models found that mild blows to the brain could reactivate a dormant herpes simplex virus (HSV-1), leading to the formation of harmful proteins and triggering the hallmarks of Alzheimer's.
Researchers from Oxford's Institute of Population Ageing, Manchester University, and Tufts University have found that repeated head injuries could reawaken a dormant virus in the brain, triggering the onset of Alzheimer's Disease and dementia. Researchers used a small 3D bioengineered human brain tissue model to test the effects of physical trauma on brain cells. When brain tissues were exposed to repeated mild blows the dormant herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) became active.
This triggered a 'beta-amyloid plaque build-up' and the formation of harmful 'tau proteins' that can damage brain cells and impair memory. Even mild brain trauma is believed to trigger the chain reaction, leading to memory loss and cognitive decline. Prof Ruth Itzhaki, who led the research with Drs Cairns and Kaplan, has been researching the virus's potential role in Alzheimer's for more than 30 years. She said: 'What we've discovered is that in the brain model these injuries can reactivate a dormant virus, HSV-1, setting off inflammation which, in the brain, would lead to the very changes we see in Alzheimer's patients. 'Understanding both the risk factors for dementia and Alzheimer's, and the mechanism by which they develop, is important in being able to target treatment and prevention at as early a point as possible.
Alzheimer's Dementia Head Injuries Virus Brain Health
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