Overwhelming Evidence for a Major Role for Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 (HSV1) in Alzheimer’s Disease (AD); Underwhelming Evidence against

Abstract

This review describes investigations of specific topics that lie within the general subject of HSV1’s role in AD/dementia, published in the last couple of years. They include studies on the following: relationship of HSV1 to AD using neural stem cells; the apparent protective effects of treatment of HSV1 infection or of VZV infection with antivirals prior to the onset of dementia; the putative involvement of VZV in AD/dementia; the possible role of human herpes virus 6 (HHV6) in AD; the seemingly reduced risk of dementia after vaccination with diverse types of vaccine, and the association shown in some vaccine studies with reduced frequency of HSV1 reactivation; anti-HSV serum antibodies supporting the linkage of HSV1 in brain with AD in APOE-ε4 carriers, and the association between APOE and cognition, and association of APOE and infection with AD/dementia. The conclusions are that there is now overwhelming evidence for HSV1’s role—probably causal—in AD, when it is present in brain of APOE-ε4 carriers, and that further investigations should be made on possible prevention of the disease by vaccination, or by prolonged antiviral treatment of HSV1 infection in APOE-ε4 carriers, before disease onset.