According to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), 4.4 percent of the population of the United States will have bipolar disorder at one point in their lives.
Another 16.2 million, or around 6.7 percent of all U.S. adults, will experience at least one episode of severe depression in their lives.
While the precise causes of such, often debilitating, psychiatric conditions remain unknown, scientists do know that both genes and the environment play a role.
For instance, a recent study identified 44 genetic loci thought to raise the risk of depression, while another has suggested that 80 percent of schizophrenia risk can be attributed to genes.
New research that now appears in the journal Frontiers in Microbiology highlights the fact that environmental factors such as viruses may be the driving force behind these disorders.
An international team of scientists led by Bhupesh Prusty — from the Department of Microbiology at the University of Würzburg in Germany — discovered that in the brains of people who lived with bipolar and major depression, a class of neurons called Purkinje cells was infected with the herpesvirus HHV-6A.
Purkinje neurons are inhibitory brain cells located in the human cerebellum, which is the brain area responsible for controlling movement, muscles, balance, and posture.
However, some research has also tied this brain region to language, cognition, and mood.
How HHV-6 may cause depression, bipolar
Prusty and team started from the hypothesis that the human herpesviruses HHV-6A and HHV-6B may drive the development of psychiatric disorders.
So, they examined two large cohorts of brain biopsies from the Stanley Medical Research Institute in Kensington, MD.
“We were able to find active infection of HHV-6 predominantly within Purkinje cells of human cerebellum in bipolar and major depressive disorder patients,” Prusty reports.
The Latest on: Herpesvirus HHV-6A
[google_news title=”” keyword=”herpesvirus HHV-6A” num_posts=”10″ blurb_length=”0″ show_thumb=”left”]
via Google News
The Latest on: Herpesvirus HHV-6A
- Progression of herpesvirus infection remodels mitochondrial organization and metabolismon May 7, 2024 at 3:39 pm
Researchers have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell. The new information will help to understand the interaction between ...
- Study: Progression of herpesvirus infection remodels mitochondrial organization and metabolismon May 7, 2024 at 8:09 am
Researchers at the University of Jyväskylä have found that herpesvirus infection modifies the structure and normal function of the mitochondria in the host cell. The new information could help to ...
- Virios Therapeutics Inc Ordinary Shares VIRIon May 3, 2024 at 6:00 am
Morningstar Quantitative Ratings for Stocks are generated using an algorithm that compares companies that are not under analyst coverage to peer companies that do receive analyst-driven ratings ...
- Human Herpesvirus-6 Entry into Host Cellson April 16, 2024 at 5:01 pm
Human herpesvirus-6 (HHV-6) belongs to the herpesvirus family and is categorized into variant A and B (HHV-6A and HHV-6B). Primary HHV-6 infection in children and its related diseases are almost ...
- 4 Best At-Home Herpes Tests for 2024on April 16, 2024 at 5:01 pm
A negative result does not always mean that the person is free from the herpes virus. For example, a false negative may occur if the lesion is small or has started to heal. A healthcare ...
- Horse tests positive for equine herpesvirus in Anne Arundel Countyon April 16, 2024 at 1:26 pm
A horse is recovering after testing positive for equine herpesvirus.The Maryland Department of Agriculture confirmed Tuesday that a horse at Laurel Park Racetrack in Anne Arundel County tested ...
- Look who's coming to Frederik Meijer Gardens! (6a)on April 10, 2024 at 5:00 pm
20 of the world's richest people who you might not know are LGBTQ+ If You See Black Residue on Your Cast-Iron Skillet, This Is What It Means 3 lies women have been told about their bodies ...
- 6A-2A state basketball tournament schedule announcedon March 3, 2024 at 7:45 pm
For the second year in a row, all of the Class 6A and 5A state basketball tournament games will be played at Lloyd Noble Center in Norman. The 6A tournament will start Wednesday and the 5A ...
- Human Herpesvirus-6 Entry into Host Cellson January 20, 2022 at 8:20 am
Human herpesvirus (HHV) -6 is a T-cell tropic virus ... HHV-6 can be classified into two variants, HHV-6 variant A (HHV-6A) and variant B (HHV-6B) based on their genetic, antigenic and growth ...
via Bing News