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Study: Gene Error Can Lead to Infection

Posted on: Thursday, 28 September 2006, 18:00 CDT

French researchers support the idea that an error in a single gene is enough to dramatically alter an individual's susceptibility to some infections.

Howard Hughes Medical Institute international research scholar Jean-Laurent Casanova and Emmanuelle Jouanguy of the Necker Medical School in Paris, along with other colleagues, have identified a single gene that predisposes individuals to herpes simplex encephalitis, an infectious disease that tends to be extremely choosy about its victims.

In a paper published in the journal Science, the researchers describe two young patients who carry mutations in this gene who are susceptible to the disease while being otherwise immunologically normal.

As many as eight out of 10 adults are infected by the herpes simplex virus, and for the most part the worst symptom is a cold sore, but in some the virus can cause inflammation of the brain that can lead to mental retardation, epilepsy or death.

A 15-year-old boy who developed brain damage due to herpes simplex infection was found to have his blood cells fail to produce an important immune signaling molecule, type I interferon.

The link between interferon production and the disease suggests a new strategy for treatment, Casanova said. It's like giving insulin to a diabetic patient, he said. You just replace the missing compound.

Source: United Press International

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