According to a new study, hepatitis C virus (HCV) can affect mental health problems such as schizophrenia, bipolar disorder and major depression.
Experts have long been noted between these psychiatric disorders and certain viral infections, but direct evidence of viruses Lack of human brain.
However, the new study of the brain lining was found in 13 different viral species. HCV showed a significant connection with both schizophrenia and bipolar disorder compared to healthy control groups.
Related: the mysterious viral DNA human genome associated with psychiatric disorders
A study led by Johns Hopkins University researchers analyzed the brain samples of patients diagnosed with bipolar disorder and main depression, as well as unaffected subjects serving as control.
They focused on the choroid plexus, the capillary and connective tissue network controls the production of cerebrospinal fluid. These objects surround the brain and spinal cord to think before the impact, help remove metabolic waste from the brain and regulate the exchange of incoming molecules.
The choroidal plexus is known to be a target virusesAnd since previous studies found so few viral traces in the brain itself, the authors of the new study considered this structure to take a closer look.
They purchased the Stanley Medical Research Institute collection, brain tissue storage facility to test people with mental health problems.
Hunting hidden virusesInvestigators performed sequence with Twist Detailed Virus Research Commission to help determine more than 3,000 different viruses in human samples.
This revealed many viral sequences in the choroidal backer, especially in patients with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder.
Meanwhile, those samples were more likely viruses In general, HCV was the only viral species with a statistically significant connection, a study found.
Thus, the researchers chose to “describe the connection between psychiatric disorders and viruses“They write.
In the second phase of the study, the authors distracted individual brain samples to analyze Trinetx, a huge database of health records of 285 million patients.
With these records, they set 3.5 percent. HCV and 3.9 % of patients with schizophrenia Those who have bipolar disorder.
This is almost twice the prevalence of HCV in patients with major depression (1.8 %), notes researchers, and seven times the prevalence of the control population (0.5 %).
The new study found evidence of viruses Only the lining of the brain, despite the fact that the hippocampus, the brain region related to teaching, memory and emotions, is also checked, among other roles.
The hippocampus was reliably clean, even if the lining was not. The protective layer seems to have done its work effectively to keep the pathogens out of the brain.
However, patients with HCV lining showed an altered gene expression in the hippocampus, mentioning how the virus can still affect the brain.
Still need to do research to clarify the association between viruses and psychiatric disorders and to investigate possible mechanisms that could allow pathogens to be pulled out of the periphery strings.
Even if HCV can contribute to these conditions, this does not mean that this is the only factor. The authors emphasize that new conclusions do not mean that everyone with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder has HCV.
But they offer hope for new tactics against devastating psychiatric disorders, says Sarven Sabunciyan, Johns Hopkins Neuroscience.
“Our findings show that some people may have psychiatric symptoms because they have an infection, and since hepatitis C infection is cured, it may be possible that this patient’s subgroup is treated with antiviral drugs and does not need to deal with mental symptoms,” says Sabuncia.
The investigation has been published Translation psychiatry;