Anti-Viral Agents in Neurodegenerative Disorders: New Paradigm for Targeting Alzheimer’s Disease

Title:Anti-Viral Agents in Neurodegenerative Disorders: New Paradigm for Targeting Alzheimer’s Disease

Volume: 10 Issue: 2

Author(s): Khushboo G. Faldu, Jigna S. Shah and Snehal S. Patel

Affiliation:

Keywords: Alzheimer’s disease, antiviral therapy, ß-amyloid plaques, biomarkers, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1), inflammation.

Abstract: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a neurodegenerative disease affecting geriatric populations for which several causes have been proposed. These include a relationship with known pathogens although the exact nature of such a relationship remains uncertain. Herpes simplex virus-1 has been proposed as potential cause of AD because of its ability to form ß amyloid(Aß) and neurofibrillary tangles due to tau hyperphosphorylation and action of beta & gamma secretase on amyloid precursor protein(APP) together with genetic association with apolipoprotein-E₄(ApoE-Ɛ4), which points out to latent Herpes Simplex virus-1 as an agent causing AD. There are numerous studies that linked HSV-1 with AD like anti-HSV-1 IgM antibodies, nectin-2, heme oxygenase-1, phosphorylated eukaryotic initiation factor-2A, caspase-8 and nucleus-specific alteration of raphe neurons. Various possible mechanisms by which HSV-1 might lead to development of AD such as ApoE, ß-amyloid, tau phosphorylation, inflammation and oxidative stress are also discussed. Thus, this review discusses patent information and a strong relationship between latent HSV-1 and AD and also proposes antiviral therapy for AD.

Cite this article as:

Faldu G. Khushboo, Shah S. Jigna and Patel S. Snehal, Anti-Viral Agents in Neurodegenerative Disorders: New Paradigm for Targeting Alzheimer’s Disease, Recent Patents on Anti-Infective Drug Discovery 2015; 10 (2) . https://dx.doi.org/10.2174/1574891X10666150509193236