Prions clog cell traffic in brains with neurodegenerative diseases

Good news!

How long have prions been investigated? At least since 1982. What took so long?

"Prion clumps disrupt outbound traffic [in axons], causing kinesin-1 and mitochondria to jump the microtubule tracks in the swollen sections, the researchers discovered. Microtubules may be bent or broken in those spots. Mitochondria movement back toward the cell body wasn’t impaired, perhaps because dynein is better at avoiding obstacles than kinesin-1"

Prions clog cell traffic in brains with neurodegenerative diseases | Science News: Prions may derail cargo moving inside brain cells, perhaps contributing to cell death in prion diseases.

Viruses Cause Extensive Neurodegenerative Diseases?

Posted: 3/3/2019

https://blogs.scientificamerican.com/artful-amoeba/the-case-for-transmissible-alzheimers-grows/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=weekly-review&utm_content=link&utm_term=2019-02-13_top-stories

Disclaimer

If confirmed and substantiated, then this is a huge discovery! This has the potential of a paradigm shift or scientific revolution! I am not a scientist or doctor!

Scientists Many Failures Are All Too Human!

Have indeed scientists and doctors seriously underestimated or even arrogantly dismissed viruses like flu for decades? For several decades, neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer's or Multiple Sclerosis were a mystery to our best scientists and doctors!

As an example, already as early as 1991 it was discovered that HIV traverses the blood brain barrier and causes damage to the brain and “that when the virus infiltrates the brain, it spurs neuronal death and a loss of synaptic connections” (Source 1; emphasis added). Why was this stunning discovery not immediately exploited and pursued to the fullest extent and immediately applied to other viruses?

It is very shocking to learn again and again how the best scientists and doctors can go down blind alleys for decades or even centuries ignoring or dismissing or wrongly and vigorously contesting other, alternative explanations!

Viruses And The Brain

Here is an excellent and comprehensive article about it. Usually, I am a bit reluctant to rely too much on one article to make bold generalizations, but having previously read many other reports about viruses in the brain, prions etc. I don’t think it is far fetched.

The article makes following bold statements:

1. That viruses like flu (e.g. H1N1, H5N1, herpes, HIV, encephalitis, measles) cause direct or indirect (via e.g. inflammation or toxins in compromised immune systems or via primed nervous system or via induced gene expression) damage to various brain cells (e.g. in the substantia nigra, oligodendrocytes) resulting in severe neurodegenerative symptoms like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer, dementia, encephalitis lethargica, and Multiple Sclerosis
2. These viruses are apparently capable of easily passing the blood brain barrier or they infiltrate the brain via major nerves like vagus nerve (via the gut) or lingual nerve (via the nose). We learn that viruses use at least three different ways to traverse the blood brain barrier: a) Direct crossing, b) Via Trojan horse or c) Immune response
3. Some of the neurodegenerative diseases caused by viruses may not be diagnosed in an individual before years or decades have passed

Shingles And Dementia

An article (Source 3) claims that a shingles infection that strikes the facial nerve important to facial movement (caused by varicella zoster virus) or shingles in the eye (“herpes zoster ophthalmicus”) can cause dementia (“The brain vessel damage that can occur with shingles is similar to what is often seen in dementia”). “Varicella zoster virus lives in about 95 percent of the U.S. adult population, thanks to ... chicken pox. ... but the virus remains, dormant in nerve cells [for the rest of your life] … Recently, scientists have learned more about the virus’s ability to infect arteries [“varicella zoster virus vasculopathy”], increasing the risk of stroke or causing headaches and vision problems. … One recently discovered viral target is the gut. ... the virus haunts the digestive organs’ local system of nerves, known as the enteric nervous system. In the gut, instead of a rash, the virus can cause abdominal pain, ulcers or other problems … detected varicella zoster virus in the saliva of six of 11 patients with unexplained abdominal pain for up to four months … The reactivated virus may also be behind some cases of a painful inflammation of the arteries at the temples called giant cell arteritis. More common in older adults, the disorder causes severe headaches, jaw pain and vision problems, and can lead to blindness. … But surprisingly, the virus appears to hide in very few nerve cells. In autopsy samples of ganglia …, researchers found dormant virus in only 34 of 2,226 [different?] nerve cells, or 1.5 percent” (Source 3; emphasis added).

There is more great information in the article (Source 3)!

Misfolded Proteins And The Brain

Another article (Source 4) claims that amyloid is similar and transmissible like prions. Latest research experimentally confirmed such transmission. “When the misfolded versions [of Amyloid beta] form, they behave like prions, catalyzing the conversion of healthy forms into diseased ones and accumulating in clumps called plaques. … In Parkinson’s Disease, misfolded alpha-synuclein proteins spread through the brain, and in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (Lou Gehrig’s Disease), the misfolded, accumulating protein is TDP-43. We should investigate the transmission potential of these diseases as well. … What is the difference between amyloid and prions? Are they part of a spectrum? Are they one and the same? If not, what is the difference?” (Source 4; emphasis added)

What is it now viruses or transmissibility of amyloid or both?

Sources:

1. Can the Flu and Other Viruses Cause Neurodegeneration? Scientists may need to seriously reconsider the cast-aside hypothesis that pathogens can play a part in diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s (published 3/1/2019)
2. PSYCHOSES ASSOCIATED WITH INFLUENZA (published 1919; this link is provided in Source 1, but I listed it separately to stress that we had for several centuries repeated hints of a link between influenza and psychic disorders, which was summarized in this 1919 article)
3. With its burning grip, shingles can do lasting damage When varicella zoster reawakens, it wreaks a surprising amount of havoc in the body (published 2/26/2019)
4. The Case for Transmissible Alzheimer's Grows What separates a lethal prion from a dementia-associated amyloid plaque? Maybe not much (published 2/7/2019; what bothers me about this article is that the author, Jennifer Frazer, wrote it in such a way that the reader is led to believe she is a researching scientist, she is not)