An Association of Virus Infection with Type 2 Diabetes and Alzheimer’s Disease

Abstract

Diabetes mellitus type 2 is a metabolic disorder characterized by high blood glucose due to insulin deficiency or resistance. Alzheimer's disease (AD) is a complex neurodegenerative disease leading to irreversible loss of neurons, intellectual abilities, memory and reasoning. The worldwide prevalence of diabetes and AD in elderly population is a major public health concern. Interestingly, both health issues are unraveling the puzzling links. The clinico-pathological relationship between diabetes and AD has been reported at genomic and proteomic levels. The association of virus infection in type 2 diabetes mellitus and AD has been reported in few recent studies, some have shown direct evidence of virus infection in diabetes and AD while other have shown that diabetes increases the risk of developing AD. This review aims to summarize the association of few common viruses like Hepatitis C Virus and Herpes Simplex Virus-1 which affects both these two age-related devastating diseases. We also discuss the pathological links of Influenza virus, Cytomegalovirus, West Nile virus, Enterovirus, Herpes Simplex Virus-2, Hepatitis viruses in diabetes and Influenza virus, Picornavirus and Borna disease virus in AD. Establishing such relationships and defining their common pathogenesis and patho-physiological mechanisms may lead to new concepts and paths for developing novel preventive strategies and pharmacological treatment options for diabetes and AD. This study may aid in future for the identification of a single or a panel of likely blood-based viral biomarkers for early diagnosis of diabetes and AD with high sensitivity and specificity.

Interactions between the microbiota, immune and nervous systems in health and disease

“…Accumulating evidence suggests that pathogenic microbes may contribute to neurodegeneration. Bacterial 90,91 , viral 92,93 , fungal 94 and parasitic 95 infections targeting the CNS are associated with increased risk of AD. These infections likely promote chronic inflammatory responses in the CNS of susceptible individuals that could contribute to hallmarks of neurodegeneration such as synaptic degeneration and amyloidosis 96 .…”

Risk of Parkinson’s disease among patients with herpes zoster: a nationwide longitudinal study

“…[5][6][7] This conception of the diathesis-stress model stems from previous studies, suggesting that environmental factors collaborate with a permissive genetic background and initiate the disease process. [5][6][7] Although the exact etiology of PD is unknown, evidence increasingly supports that pathologic infection may be crucial in the development of neurodegenerative disorders, such as Alzheimer disease 8 and PD. [9][10][11][12][13] Increasing literature has demonstrated the preliminary association between PD and certain human herpesviruses family including Herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV-1) and Epstein-Barr virus (EBV).…”

Pathogenic microbes, the microbiome, and Alzheimer’s disease (AD)

“…HCV infection has recently been shown to significantly increase the risk for AD, especially in the aged (Chiu et al, 2013; Karim et al, 2014). …”