Assistant-in-Charge: Rita Liu(劉子瑤)
Member-in-Team: Jasia(楊裕萌), Irene(曾芊瑜), Soren(鍾來哲)
Article Reference: ETtoday新聞雲 https://www.ettoday.net/news/20181107/1299833.htm
Pubilshed Date of Article: 7th November 2018
Original Article:
英教授發現「抗疱疹藥預防阿茲海默症」 台灣實驗證明
最新研究發現，疱疹導致阿茲海默症的證據越來越充足。英國分子神經生物學家伊札基（Ruth Itzhaki）撰文指出，「我發現了至今最有力證據，以顯示疱疹病毒是阿茲海默症病因之一，這說明安全有效的抗病毒藥物可能治療這種疾病，兒童甚至也可接種疫苗來預防。」她提到，「令人振奮的是，在台灣已有大規模樣本實驗，證明使用特定抗疱疹藥物能預防阿茲海默症。盼望其他國家如果有這方面實驗，也會出現相似的結果。」
據BBC報導，阿茲海默症是最常見失智症，全球有超過3000萬人罹患，這種病只能透過藥物緩解，無法治癒。伊札基指出，第一型單純疱疹病毒（HSV1）是阿茲海默症主因，多數人會在嬰兒期感染，它會隨著老化、免疫系統衰退而進入大腦，潛伏腦中，之後會在周圍神經系統中保持休眠狀態。當壓力大、免疫系統減弱，或因其他微生物感染而誘發腦部發炎時，病毒可能會活化，還可能會反覆活躍，而不斷累積損傷。
伊札基是英國曼徹斯特大學（University of Manchester）分子神經生物學榮譽退休教授。她在學術討論網站The Conversation以「疱疹導致阿茲海默症：證據越來越充足」（Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause）為標題指出，1991年發現，許多老年人的大腦中也有HSV1病毒，1997年又證實，腦中存在APOE4基因的人，罹患阿茲海默症的風險相當高。
病毒活化導致受感染的細胞直接受到病毒傷害，誘發炎症。反覆活化累積的損害，最終會導致攜帶APOE4基因的人罹患阿茲海默症。伊札基表示，相關研究顯示出疱疹病毒和阿茲海默症的關聯，但不能證明疱疹病毒就是真正的病因。證明微生物是不是病因，唯一的方式是使用具針對性的抗微生物劑，或接種特定疫苗，來測試是否明顯減少這種疾病。
Translation of Article (Edited):
According to the latest research, more evidences have shown that herpes may cause Alzheimer. Ruth Itzhaki, the British molecular neurobiologist, wrote an article to point it out. “I have found the most powerful evidence showing that herpes virus is one of the causes of Alzheimer. Therefore, safe and effective antiviral drugs may cure this disease, and children can even prevent Alzheimer by vaccination.” Itzhaki has mentioned, “The most exciting thing is that, Taiwan has already carried out a large scale of sample experiment, proving that applying specific anti-herpes drugs is effective for preventing Alzheimer. We really hope the other countries that are also having researches on anti-herpes drugs would show the same result.”
According to BBC, Alzheimer’s Disease is one of the most common dementia, with over thirty million people diagnosed with Alzheimer’s Disease worldwide. Nowadays, Alzheimer’s Disease could only be remitted by drugs and cannot be completely cured. Itzhaki indicated that Herpes Simplex Virus 1 (HSV1) is the major cause of Alzheimer’s Disease. Most people get infected by the HSV1 during infancy, while the virus will enter human’s brain when a person is aging or getting a immune system deficiency. HSV1 is latent in the human peripheral neural system. The virus may activate when people are under huge stress, having weak immune system or brain inflammation by microorganisms, and would possibly reactivate repeatedly, causing accumulative damage in the brain.
Ruth Itzhaki, the professor emeritus of molecular neurobiology at the University of Manchester, published the article “Alzheimer’s disease: mounting evidence that herpes virus is a cause” in The Conversation. The article suggested that herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV1) were discovered in many elders in 1991. In 1997, they also discovered that people who had APOE4 gene tend to have higher risk in getting Alzheimer’s disease.
The activation of the virus causes direct damage to the infected cells, and may induce inflammation. The cumulative damage caused by repeat activation might lead to Alzheimer’s disease for those who carried APOE4 gene. “Researches have shown the association between herpes virus and Alzheimer’s disease, but it still could not prove that the virus was the actual cause.” The only way to prove that whether microbes are the pathogenesis or not is to treat the microbe targets with specific antimicrobial agents or specific vaccines, then follow to see whether the occurrence rate of the diseases is reduced.