Repeated head injuries suffered by sports players and military personnel — a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — may induce dementia by

Herpes virus and repeated head trauma linked to Alzheimer’s, study finds

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2025-01-08 00:00:08

Repeated head injuries suffered by sports players and military personnel — a known risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease — may induce dementia by reactivating the dormant herpes virus in neural tissues, according to laboratory experiments.

The research at Tufts and Oxford universities, using stem cells turned to organoids or “brains in a dish”, offers more evidence that viruses, particularly those in the herpes family that are present in the majority of adults, play an important role in the development of Alzheimer’s.

The study, published on Tuesday in the journal Science Signalling, could speed up research into antiviral drugs that slow the onset of degenerative diseases.

Different experiments with brain organoids, published last week in Cell Reports by scientists at universities in the US and Israel, found that herpes infection accelerated the formation of tau, a toxic protein associated with Alzheimer’s and other neurodegenerative conditions.

Ruth Itzhaki, professorial fellow at Oxford’s Institute of Population Ageing, who worked with colleagues at Tufts, said recent studies left no doubt that viruses were involved in many cases of dementia. They are believed to harm the brain by inducing an inflammatory immune response rather than directly killing neurons.