#hsv-1

A new study has found the herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), which causes cold sores, may be linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This idea is not entirely new. Previous research has suggested there may be an association between HSV-1 and Alzheimer's disease, the most common form of dementia. So what can we make of these new findings? And how strong is this link? Let's take a look at the evidence.

-- also called cold sores or fever blisters

-- abbreviated as HSV-1

-- causes: -> infectious transmission -> stress -> lack of rest -> poor nutrition

-- cold sores form around the mouth

-- treatments: -> antivirals -> numbing medication

.

UIC researchers find evidence of possible link between herpes simplex and neurogenerative diseases

A new study by researchers at University of Illinois Chicago suggests that when the protein optineurin, or OPTN, is present in cells it restricts the spread of HSV-1, the herpes simplex virus type 1.

In a “first of its kind” study, researchers also found a potential direct connection between neurodegenerative diseases, such as Alzheimer’s disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), glaucoma, and the herpesvirus, said Dr. Deepak Shukla, the Marion H. Schenk Esq. Professor in Ophthalmology for Research of the Aging Eye, and vice chair for research at UIC.

The research paper, “OPTN is a host intrinsic restriction factor against neuroinvasive HSV-1 infection,” led by Shukla, was published recently in the journal Nature Communications.

Researchers sought to discover why HSV-1 can become fatal for individuals who are immunocompromised but not for healthy individuals. Herpesviruses naturally infect the central nervous system and can result in degenerative brain and eye disorders, as well as encephalitis. However, in most individuals, the virus is suppressed during a primary infection before it can significantly damage the central nervous system.

The new research suggests why HSV-1 is suppressed: OPTN, a conserved autophagy receptor, selectively targets HSV-1 proteins to degradation by autophagy, explained Tejabhiram Yadavalli, a co-author of the study and visiting scholar at UIC’s department of ophthalmology and visual science.

“OPTN stops the virus from growing and it stops it by autophagy — engulfing the virus particles inside tiny vesicles called autophagosomes. The autophagy that happens is very selective. That has meaning for other viruses as well,” Shukla said.

The researchers believe the results from this study will apply to all eight different human herpesviruses.

For the study, mice with removed OPTN genes were infected with ocular HSV-1. The virus growth was much higher in the brains of animals without OPTN, killing local neurons and eventually leading to animal death. This shows there is a faster degeneration of neurons when OPTN is not there. Additional studies are being planned to examine naturally occurring mutations in OPTN, such as the ones reported in glaucoma and ALS patients, and how they may affect neuronal health and HSV-1 infection, Shukla explained.

“Where you have mutated OPTN plus herpes, you have the recipe to create a disaster in terms of neurodegeneration,” Shukla said.

“The study also shows there is an impairment of immune response when there is a deficiency in OPTN.  OPTN is needed to signal an influx of proper immune cells at the site of infection. When you don’t have it, you have issues,” said Chandrashekhar Patil, also a co-author of the study and a visiting scholar at UIC’s department of ophthalmology and visual science.

Some of those issues could include neurodegenerative disorders, which researchers believe further research may show.

“We think we will have data to show other viruses, such as Epstein-Barr, Kaposi’s sarcoma, varicella-zoster, are all going to share this mechanism because they share homologous proteins,” Shukla said.

Because the herpesvirus sits in neurons forever, there is speculation it is connected to neurodegenerative diseases. The immune system requires inflammation to constantly fight off the virus, and neurons have some degree of damage because of this continuous immune response, according to Dr. Tibor Valyi-Nagy, professor of pathology, director of neuropathology at UIC and research collaborator on the study.

The study also showed that animals without OPTN and infected with HSV-1 after 30 days lost the ability to recognize objects. Shukla said this could be an indication that having HSV-1 along with a mutation of OPTN could accelerate neuronal damage, which would translate into cognitive impairment.

“Part of our translational research can be how can we correct the problems with OPTN so that we don’t have issues with neurodegeneration,” Shukla said.

Additional authors are Joshua Ames, Rahul Suryawanshi, James Hopkins, Alexander Agelidis, Chandrashekhar Patil and Brian Fredericks, all of UIC, and Henry Tseng of Duke University Medical Center.

Coat of proteins makes viruses more infectious and links them to Alzheimer’s disease

I barely use this blog since I created it lol. Not gonna lie, it's because I've become so accustomed to having oral herpes. I haven't had a major out break, and honestly I went from thinking about it every single day to now where I only remember when I want to kiss someone.

Relationship wise, I have long since parted ways with the person I was with when I discovered I had oral herpes. But, I met a new guy shortly after who turns out has oral herpes too!!! We have been really happy together so far and I hope we continue to be happy and grow together. He even took me to my first ever concert!!!

First Post!!! Well, since I'm new to the glitter community I thought I may as well start out with my story:

Started out with me having a one night stand with this guy I REALLLY liked. We had been talking for a while, and finally decided to meet up before he had to go back to his home state since summer was ending. Well, you can obviously expect what happened 👌👈. After he left, once I had found someone else and moved on, he decided to message me and tell me he had a girlfriend at the time we fucked and fed me a bunch of bullshit about him caring about me and how he didn't know what to do, etc. Well, me being me, I found his girlfriend online and let her know. She asked what happened, and then told me I should get checked because they both were being treated for chlamydia and herpes (points to her for being responsible and TELLING ME!)

Honestly, it was instant panic. INSTANT PANIC. I texted my significant other while crying and panicking and told him what I found out. I told myself my friends would think I was disgusting and that they would leave me, I told myself my significant other would leave me, I was just a mess. I prayed, and got so upset that I considered suicide, and ended up crying myself to sleep that night. Thankfully, the next morning my significant other called me up and told me everything was gonna be ok, that we would get checked together and that he still loved me regardless (WOW WAS I FUCKING LUCKY.) That day we got checked, and were told the results would come back in about two days or more. Well, I was still so anxious that I had to know more before I could get my results.

That's when I started researching herpes. I knew it was permanent, but didn't really know what it was or what it did. In my head, I assumed it was deadly and would ruin my life forever. Nah, not the results I found. I was so shocked when I discovered the statistics on it, saw how common it is, and learned it's not as serious as I assumed. If anything, I was relieved. Then of course, I looked to Tumblr. And WOW, was that fucking relieving!!!! The glitter community was so positive and supportive that a lot of my fears washed away. Before I even got my results I just accepted that I had herpes (whatever type it may be) and fully wanted to end the stigma behind it. I had a whole new view of it!!! Now, fast forward to results day.