2023-06-26 12:09:54
A total of five to 15 percent of all viral brain infections are due to the herpes simplex virus 1. The pathogen can remain protected from the immune system in nerve cells for a long time until it is activated by stress or an injury. The symptoms are usually limited to the typical, painful cold sores.
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But if the virus gets into the brain, it can be much more unpleasant. Despite successful therapy against the pathogen, the survivors are often impaired in the long term and suffer from memory loss, seizures or cognitive problems.
harmful inflammation
Researchers at the Max Delbrück Center in Berlin have now discovered that the body’s natural defense against viruses is one of the causes of the damage to the brain tissue. Using mini-organs in the petri dish, they have reproduced the infection and inflammatory processes in individual cells. They also treated the organoids with a novel combination of drugs that could improve the therapy of those affected in the future, as they write in the journal “Nature Microbiology”.
The team soaked the cultures in the commonly used drug aciclovir, which did keep the virus in check. The tissue was still damaged because the inflammatory reaction continued. However, an additional anti-inflammatory agent protected the brain organoids from further damage.
For the decisive step in therapy against HSV encephalitis, the researchers now hope that doctors will soon test the drug mix in studies with patients.
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Brain organoids are complex cell cultures and are grown from human stem cells. They are a promising way to study the virus, which only affects humans. Tissue samples can only be obtained in exceptional cases and simple nerve cell cultures or mice that are not carriers of the virus are not ideal for the investigations.
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