'Harmless' virus might trigger Parkinson's disease, researchers say
July 9 (UPI) -- A common virus once thought harmless to humans might be linked to Parkinson's disease, a new study says.
The germ, Human Pegivirus (HPgV), was found in half the autopsied brains of patients with Parkinson's, but not in any brains from healthy people, researchers reported Tuesday in the journal JCI Insight.
"HPgV is a common, symptomless infection previously not known to frequently infect the brain," lead researcher Dr. Igor Koralnik, chief of neuroinfectious diseases and global neurology at Northwestern Medicine in Chicago, said in a news release.
"We were surprised to find it in the brains of Parkinson's patients at such high frequency and not in the controls."
The virus also appeared to prompt different responses from people's immune systems, depending on their genetics, Koralnik said.
"This suggests it could be an environmental factor that interacts with the body in ways we didn't realize before," Koralnik said. "For a virus that was thought to be harmless, these findings suggest it may have important effects, in the context of Parkinson's disease. It may influence how Parkinson's develops, especially in people with certain genetic backgrounds."
Parkinson's disease occurs when brain cells that produce an important hormone called dopamine begin to die off or become impaired.
As dopamine levels decrease, people develop movement symptoms like shaking or stiffness, as well as problems maintaining balance and coordination.
More than 1 million people in the U.S. live with Parkinson's disease, including actors Michael J. Fox and Alan Alda, singer Neil Diamond and football great Brett Favre. About 90,000 new cases are diagnosed every year, researchers said.
Most cases of Parkinson's are not linked to a person's genetics, raising the question of what might trigger the death of dopamine-producing nerve cells, researchers said in background notes.
For the new study, researchers autopsied the brains of 10 Parkinson's patients and 14 people not suffering from the disorder.
The team found HPgV in 5 out of 10 brains from people with Parkinson's, but none of the 14 healthy brains. The virus also was present in the spinal fluid of Parkinson's patients, but not in the control group.
Further, more brain damage was found in patients with HPgV, researchers said.
Next, researchers tested blood samples from more than 1,000 participants in the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative, a biosample library available for Parkinson's research. HPgV is a blood-borne virus in the same family as hepatitis C.
Only about 1% of Parkinson's patients had HPgV in their blood samples, researchers found.
But people who had the virus showed different signals from their immune system, particularly those with a Parkinson's-related gene mutation called LRRK2, researchers said.
"We plan to look more closely at how genes like LRRK2 affect the body's response to other viral infections to figure out if this is a special effect of HPgV or a broader response to viruses," Koralnik said.
Researchers plan to continue tracking how common the virus is among Parkinson's patients, and how it might trigger the brain disorder.
"One big question we still need to answer is how often the virus gets into the brains of people with or without Parkinson's," Koralnik said. "We also aim to understand how viruses and genes interact; insights that could reveal how Parkinson's begins and could help guide future therapies."
More information
The National Institute on Aging has more about Parkinson's disease.
Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
UPI
9 hours ago
- UPI
Treasury Secretary Sean Duffy named interim NASA administrator
U.S. Department of Transportation Sean Duffy testifies at a House Appropriations subcommittee on May 14. He was also named interim administrator of NASA. File photo by Annabelle Gordon/UPI .. | License Photo July 10 (UPI) -- President Donald Trump on Monday named Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy to also serve as interim NASA administrator. Janet Petro, a former leader of the Kennedy Space Center, has been the agency's acting administrator since Trump became president on Jan. 20. The administrator reports directly to the president. "Sean is doing a TREMENDOUS job in handling our Country's Transportation Affairs, including creating a state-of-the-art Air Traffic Control systems, while at the same time rebuilding our roads and bridges, making them efficient, and beautiful, again," the president wrote in a post on Truth Social on Wednesday. "He will be a fantastic leader of the ever more important Space Agency, even if only for a short period of time. Congratulations, and thank you, Sean." Duffy, a lawyer and broadcaster who served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 2002 to 2010, has no science background. "Honored to accept this mission," Duffy posted on X. "Time to take over space. Let's launch." The president hasn't nominated anyone for the agency after he withdrew billionaire Jared Isaacman's name to lead NASA, citing a "thorough review of prior associations." The nomination was withdrawn on May 31, before the Senate was expected to vote on the nomination of Isaacman, who has twice traveled to space on private missions. It was withdrawn on the day SpaceX chief Elon Musk left the White House after leading the Department of Government Efficiency. Trump, in a post on Truth Social on Sunday, said it was "inappropriate that a very close friend of Elon, who was in the Space Business, run NASA, when NASA is such a big part of Elon's corporate life." In the message, Trump said he was "saddened to watch Elon Musk go completely 'off the rails,' essentially becoming a TRAIN WRECK over the past five weeks." The proposed 2026 fiscal year budget for NASA is $18.8 billion, which is a 25% reduction on overall funding and the smallest since 1961 when Alan Shepard became the first American in space. There are 17,000 permanent civil service employees with headquarters in Washington. Major locations are the Kennedy Space Center in Florida, the Johnson Space Center in Texas, the Jet Propulsion Laboratory in California, the Langley Research Center in Virginia, the Marshall Space Flight Center in Alabama and the Goddard Space Flight Center in Maryland. NASA relies on SpaceX to send its astronauts to the International Space Center. The agency also primarily uses private contractors and suppliers to build its rockets and related systems. The Department of Transportation has 57,000 employees, including the Federal Aviation Administration, safety of commercial motor vehicles and truckers, public transportation, railroads and maritime transport and ports. Several other political appointees are serving in multiple roles, according to NBC News. Secretary of State Marco Rubio currently serves as the interim national security adviser and national archivist. Deputy Attorney General Todd Blanche is the acting head of the Library of Congress. Jamieson Greer is the U.S. trade representative, acting director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics and acting special counsel of the U.S. Office of Special Counsel. Russell Vought is director of the U.S. Office of Management and Budget and acting director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau. Richard Grenell, a special is president the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts. And Daniel Driscoll is secretary of the Army and the acting director of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
UPI
10 hours ago
- UPI
DOJ subpoenas more than 20 gender-affirming care doctors, clinics
The Justice Department on Wednesday announced it was subpoenaing more than 20 doctors and clinics that perform gender-affirming care for minors as the Trump administration ramps up its attacks against this marginalized group of Americans. File Photo by Terry Schmitt/UPI | License Photo July 9 (UPI) -- The Justice Department on Wednesday announced that it had sent more than 20 subpoenas to doctors and clinics performing gender-affirming care for minors, as the Trump administration ramps up its attacks on this marginalized community. No information about the doctors and clinics subpoenaed was provided by the Justice Department, though it suggested the subpoenas were part of investigations into "healthcare fraud, false statements and more." "Medical professionals and organizations that mutilate children in the service of a warped ideology will be held accountable by this Department of Justice," Attorney General Pam Bondi said in a statement. On June 18, the Supreme Court upheld a Tennessee law restricting access to gender-affirming care for minors. The subpoenas come despite every major American medical association supporting gender-affirming care for both adults and youth, including the American Academy of Pediatrics. Gender-affirming care includes a range of therapies, from psychological, behavioral and medical interventions, with surgeries for minors being exceedingly rare. According to a recent Harvard study, cisgender minors and adults were far more likely to undergo analogous gender-affirming surgeries than their transgender counterparts. Despite the support of the medical community and the evidence, conservatives, Republicans and the Trump administration have continued to target this community with legislation affecting their medical care and rights. The subpoenas were announced the same day that the Federal Trade Commission hosted a day-long workshop titled "The Dangers of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors," during which Melissa Holyoak, an FTC commissioner, said that while they cannot make policy decisions limiting gender-affirming care, they can target the medical practice for deceptive statements. "The FTC has previously enforced -- and will continue to enforce -- against deceptive representations made by medical practitioners, including claims in connection with treatments for transgender children," she said, according to a copy of her remarks. Also on Wednesday, the Department of Justice sued California over alleged Title IX violations concerning transgender athletes competing in women's and girls' sports. The Democratic-led state has refused to comply with the Trump administration's ban on transgender women and girls competing in sports that align with their gender identity. Since returning to the White House in January, President Donald Trump has signed several executive orders targeting transgender Americans, including one directing the federal government to recognize only two sexes determined at "conception," another restricting gender-affirming care for youth and a third banning transgender Americans from the military.
UPI
10 hours ago
- UPI
Measles cases In U.S. hit 1,288, highest since disease eliminated in 2000
Of the 1,288 confirmed rpeorted cases in the United States this year, 92% are among those unvaccinated, the CDC said. Photo by Airman 1st Class Matthew Lotz/U.S. Air Force July 9 (UPI) -- The number of reported measles cases in the United States has hit 1,288 in the first six months of this year, the most since the disease was declared eliminated in 2000, according data released Wednesday by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. The figure has surpassed the total number of infections in 2019, which was 1,274, the CDC said. In 1992, there were 2,126 cases, eight years before the virus was officially declared eliminated in the United States in 2000 after vaccine use became prevalent. That means measles was no longer spreading within the country, and new cases were only found when someone contracted measles abroad and returned to the United States. Cases have been reported in 38 states, with 753 in Texas, where outbreaks were first reported in January. The next highest states are 95 in New Mexico and 87 in Kansas. There have been 27 separate outbreaks, with 88% of confirmed cases related to them, the CDC said. Of the cases, 29% are among children under 5, with 36% from those 5-19 years old and 34% of those 20 years and older. Also, 92% of cases are among those unvaccinated, with 4% getting one measles, mumps and rubella dose, and 4% two. Thirteen percent of those with measles were hospitalized, and there have been three deaths. Despite the outbreaks, CDC said in the statement to CBS News the risk of measles infection remains lower than in other countries, including Canada, Britain, France, Spain and Italy. Canada, which has 12% of the U.S. population, has reported 3,393 confirmed cases, including 2,231 in the province of Ontario. "Measles risk is higher in U.S. communities with low vaccination rates in areas with active measles outbreaks or with close social and/or geographic linkages to areas with active measles outbreaks," the statement said, adding, "CDC continues to recommend MMR vaccines as the best way to protect against measles." A study published in June found that the vaccination rate decreased from 93.92% in the 2017-2018 school year to 91.26% in 2023-2024. Herd immunity is considered with a 95% vaccination rate. The outbreak was originally reported in a rural Mennonite community with a low vaccination rate. Measles, which is the most contagious infectious disease known to humans, spreads through the air via respiratory droplets produced by coughing or sneezing. Symptoms include cough, runny nose, inflamed eyes, sore throat, fever and a red, blotchy skin rash. Over-the-counter fever reducers or vitamin A may alleviate symptoms. Before the measles vaccine, nearly every child contracted measles by the time they were 15. The CDC estimates that 3 million to 4 million people in the United States were sickened by measles every year before the vaccine. That included 48,000 hospitalizations and 400 to 500 deaths each year. The measles vaccine was first licensed for public use in 1963, according to the World Health Organization. The first MMR vaccine was administered in 1971.
