Connection between facial sores and Alzheimer's Disease

In the presence of a certain gene variation (APOE-epsilon4 allele carriers), a possible link between HSV-1 (i.e., the virus that causes cold sores or oral herpes) and Alzheimer’s disease was reported in 1979. HSV-1 appears to be particularly damaging to the nervous system and increases one’s risk of developing Alzheimer’s disease. The virus interacts with the components and receptors of lipoproteins, which may lead to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This research identifies HSVs as the pathogen most clearly linked to the establishment of Alzheimer’s. Without the presence of the gene allele, HSV-1 does not appear to cause any neurological damage or increase the risk of Alzheimer’s. Many more Alzheimer's disease susceptibility genes, including the major players APOE, clusterin, complement receptor 1 and PICALM are involved in the herpes simplex life cycle as curated in this database