Watson AMM, Prasad KM, Klei L, Wood JA, Yolken RH, Gur RC, Bradford LD, Calkins ME, Richard J, Edwards N, Savage RM, Allen TB, Kwentus J, McEvoy JP, Santos AB, Wiener HW, Go RCP, Perry RT, Nasrallah HA, Gur RE, Devlin B, Nimgaonkar VL. Persistent infection with neurotropic herpes viruses and cognitive impairment.
Psychol Med 2013;
43:1023-1031. [PMID:
22975221 DOI:
10.1017/s003329171200195x]
[Citation(s) in RCA: 44] [Impact Index Per Article: 4.0] [Reference Citation Analysis] [What about the content of this article? (0)] [Affiliation(s)] [Abstract] [MESH Headings] [Grants] [Track Full Text] [Journal Information] [Submit a Manuscript] [Subscribe] [Scholar Register] [Indexed: 12/21/2022]
Abstract
BACKGROUND
Herpes virus infections can cause cognitive impairment during and after acute encephalitis. Although chronic, latent/persistent infection is considered to be relatively benign, some studies have documented cognitive impairment in exposed persons that is untraceable to encephalitis. These studies were conducted among schizophrenia (SZ) patients or older community dwellers, among whom it is difficult to control for the effects of co-morbid illness and medications. To determine whether the associations can be generalized to other groups, we examined a large sample of younger control individuals, SZ patients and their non-psychotic relatives (n=1852). Method Using multivariate models, cognitive performance was evaluated in relation to exposures to herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) and cytomegalovirus (CMV), controlling for familial and diagnostic status and sociodemographic variables, including occupation and educational status. Composite cognitive measures were derived from nine cognitive domains using principal components of heritability (PCH). Exposure was indexed by antibodies to viral antigens.
RESULTS
PCH1, the most heritable component of cognitive performance, declines with exposure to CMV or HSV-1 regardless of case/relative/control group status (p = 1.09 × 10-5 and 0.01 respectively), with stronger association with exposure to multiple herpes viruses (β = -0.25, p = 7.28 × 10-10). There were no significant interactions between exposure and group status.
CONCLUSIONS
Latent/persistent herpes virus infections can be associated with cognitive impairments regardless of other health status.
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