AUTHOR=Westman Gabriel , Blomberg Jonas , Yun Zhibing , Lannfelt Lars , Ingelsson Martin , Eriksson Britt-Marie 

TITLE=Decreased HHV-6 IgG in Alzheimer’s Disease

JOURNAL=Frontiers in Neurology

VOLUME=Volume 8 - 2017

YEAR=2017

URL=https://www.frontiersin.org/journals/neurology/articles/10.3389/fneur.2017.00040

DOI=10.3389/fneur.2017.00040

ISSN=1664-2295

ABSTRACT=Human herpesviruses have previously been implicated in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD) but whether they are causal, facilitating or confounding factors is yet to be established. A total of 50 AD subjects and 52 non-demented (ND) controls were analysed in a multiplex assay for IgG reactivity towards HSV, VZV, CMV and HHV-6. The HHV-6 IgG reactivity was significantly lower in AD subjects compared to non-demented controls, whereas there were no differences in HSV, VZV or CMV antibody levels between the groups. Analysis of peripheral blood mononuclear cells with a subtype specific HHV-6 PCR revealed no signs of reactivation, as AD and ND subjects presented with comparable HHV-6 DNA levels in PBMCs and all positive samples were of subtype B. Whether HHV-6 is a factor in AD remains to be elucidated in future studies.