'Harmless' virus found lurking in Parkinson's patients' brains, new study shows

A virus long thought to be harmless may truly play a role in Parkinson s ailment a condition that affects more than one million Americans Northwestern Medicine scientists discovered Human Pegivirus HPgV in the brains and spinal fluid of people with Parkinson s but not in those without the sickness The results challenge decades of assumptions about the virus HPgV is a common symptomless infection previously not known to frequently infect the brain Dr Igor Koralnik chief of neuroinfectious diseases at Northwestern revealed in a press release We were surprised to find it in the brains of Parkinson s patients at such high frequency and not in the controls TRAINED DOGS CAN SMELL PARKINSON'S SICKNESS BEFORE INDICATORS SHOW UP EXAMINATION FINDSThe findings were published in the journal JCI Insight Researchers examined post-mortem brain tissue from Parkinson s patients and people who died of other causes The virus appeared in five of the Parkinson s brains and none of the controls NEW WEEKLY INJECTION FOR PARKINSON'S COULD REPLACE DAILY PILL FOR MILLIONS INQUIRY SUGGESTSIt also turned up in spinal fluid samples suggesting the virus could be advancing in the nervous system Patients carrying HPgV established more advanced brain changes tied to Parkinson s including protein buildup and altered brain chemistry The gang didn t stop at brain tissue Using blood samples from more than participants in a project led by The Michael J Fox Foundation researchers saw the same immune system changes linked to the virus Even more striking patients with a Parkinson s-related mutation in the LRRK gene responded differently to HPgV than those without the mutation This suggests it could be an environmental factor that interacts with the body in options we didn t realize before Koralnik reported It may influence how Parkinson s develops especially in people with certain genetic backgrounds STANFORD SCIENTISTS 'TOTALLY SURPRISED' BY ANTICIPATED PARKINSON'S REMEDY DISCOVERYParkinson s sickness is the second greater part common brain disorder after Alzheimer s according to the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke While a small percentage of cases are inherited the bulk patients don t have a family history and the cause has remained unknown If HPgV truly plays a role it could help explain why specific people develop Parkinson s while others do not It could also open the door to new treatments targeting viruses or the immune system The analysis detected traces of HPgV more often in brains of people with Parkinson s disorder than in controls This raises the possibility of a link between viral exposure and Parkinson s but it s far too early to say the virus causes the illness Dr Joel Salinas a behavioral neurologist and associate professor at NYU Grossman School of Medicine reported Fox News Digital LIVING NEAR A GOLF CURRICULUM IS LINKED TO PARKINSON S EXPOSURE IN NEW EVALUATION AS CERTAIN CITE LIMITATIONSSalinas who was not involved in the survey also revealed that much larger and longer-term studies will be needed to determine whether this association has real clinical significance For now people should know this is early research and not a reason to worry there s no overwhelming evidence yet that this virus causes Parkinson s similar to how work on herpesviruses in Alzheimer s has suggested a accomplishable link but remains to be fully established According to the Parkinson s Foundation nearly Americans are diagnosed every year That number is expected to reach million by MORE IN SOUNDNESS NEWSThe Northwestern band plans to expand their assessment to see how often HPgV is exposed in people with Parkinson s versus healthy controls and whether other viruses may be involved For a virus that was thought to be harmless these findings suggest it may have fundamental effects in the context of Parkinson s sickness Koralnik noted CLICK HERE TO SIGN UP FOR OUR VITALITY NEWSLETTER We also aim to understand how viruses and genes interact insights that could reveal how Parkinson s begins and could help guide future therapies