Jamieson G A, Maitland N J, Wilcock G K, Craske J, Itzhaki R F
Department of Optometry and Vision Sciences, UMIST, Manchester, England.
J Med Virol. 1991 Apr;33(4):224-7. doi: 10.1002/jmv.1890330403.
A viral aetiology has long been suspected for Alzheimer's disease (AD) but until now, techniques have not been sufficiently sensitive to provide clear evidence for or against the presence of any viral genome in AD brain. We have used the very highly sensitive method of polymerase chain reaction to look for herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) DNA, specifically the viral thymidine kinase (TK) gene, in autopsy brain specimens. DNA-samples from HSV-infected and uninfected Vero cells have been examined concurrently to provide standard "HSV-positive" and "HSV-negative" samples, the latter guarding also against false positives caused by cross-contamination. To preclude false negatives, we have checked the presence of the human gene, hypoxanthine phosphoribosyl transferase. In all specimens from 8 AD patients and 6 normal individuals (temporal, frontal and hippocampal), we have found viral TK sequences. In contrast, in preliminary studies on lymphocytes from normals and AD patients, we did not find TK sequences. It is postulated that factors such as number or expression of viral genes and host susceptibility might be related to incidence of AD.
长期以来，人们一直怀疑病毒病因与阿尔茨海默病（AD）有关，但直到现在，技术还不够灵敏，无法为AD大脑中是否存在任何病毒基因组提供明确证据。我们使用了灵敏度非常高的聚合酶链反应方法，在尸检脑标本中寻找单纯疱疹病毒1型（HSV1）DNA，特别是病毒胸苷激酶（TK）基因。同时检测了来自HSV感染和未感染的Vero细胞的DNA样本，以提供标准的“HSV阳性”和“HSV阴性”样本，后者也可防止交叉污染导致的假阳性。为了排除假阴性，我们检查了人类次黄嘌呤磷酸核糖转移酶基因的存在情况。在8例AD患者和6例正常个体（颞叶、额叶和海马体）的所有标本中，我们都发现了病毒TK序列。相比之下，在对正常人和AD患者淋巴细胞的初步研究中，我们没有发现TK序列。据推测，病毒基因的数量或表达以及宿主易感性等因素可能与AD的发病率有关。
