Herpesviruses
Herpesviruses are a family of DNA viruses with extremely high prevalence rates. Once a human host is infected, the infection is life-long. While generally, immunocompetent hosts are able to keep the virus in a latent state and remain asymptomatic, several of these viruses can cause symptoms if they reactivate. They can also increase the risk of autoimmune disease and cancer.
Types[edit | edit source]
Viruses in this family include HSV-1 and HSV-2, Epstein-Barr virus (HHV4), which causes mononucleosis, Varicella zoster virus, which causes chickenpox and shingles. More than 90% of adults have been infected with at least one of these viruses.
Other herpesviruses include human cytomegalovirus, HHV-6, HHV-7, and Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus.
Latency[edit | edit source]
They share in common that after the initial infection, these viruses usually remain latent for life.[1]
Reactivation[edit | edit source]
Reactivation of these viruses have been associated with a number of diseases.[2] HSV-1 has been implicated in Alzheimer's.[3]
Several of these viruses have transactivating potential.[1]
Chronic fatigue syndrome[edit | edit source]
It is unclear whether herpesviruses associated with Chronic fatigue syndrome play an etiological role or are "bystanders" – opportunistic reactivations under a state of immune dysregulation.
[edit | edit source]
- 2016, Herpesviruses dUTPases: A New Family of Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern (PAMP) Proteins with Implications for Human Disease
"In this review, we provide evidence from animal and human studies of the Epstein-Barr virus as a prototype, supporting the notion that herpesviruses dUTPases are a family of proteins with unique immunoregulatory functions that can alter the inflammatory microenvironment and thus exacerbate the immune pathology of herpesvirus-related diseases including myalgic encephalomyelitis/chronic fatigue syndrome, autoimmune diseases, and cancer...[we] approached the possibility that two or more herpesviruses may act synergistically and that virus-encoded proteins, rather than the viruses themselves, may act as drivers of or contribute to the pathophysiological alterations observed in a subset of patients with ME/CFS."[4]
Learn more[edit | edit source]
See also[edit | edit source]
References[edit | edit source]
- ↑ 1.0 1.1 De Bolle, Leen; Naesens, Lieve (January 2005), "Update on Human Herpesvirus 6 Biology, Clinical Features, and Therapy", Clin Microbiol Rev, 8 (1): 217–245, doi:10.1128/CMR.18.1.217-245.200
- ↑ Reference needed.
- ↑ Experts Say There’s a Herpes-Alzheimer’s Link, Time, March 10, 2016
- ↑ Williams, Marshall V.; Cox, Brandon; Ariza, Maria Eugenia (2017), "Herpesviruses dUTPases: A New Family of Pathogen-Associated Molecular Pattern (PAMP) Proteins with Implications for Human Disease", Pathogens, 6 (1): 2, doi:10.3390/pathogens6010002
