Professor Ruth Itzhaki
Ruth Itzhaki, MSc, PhD, MA is Professor, Faculty of Life Sciences,
University of Manchester.
The causes of dementia are unknown, but with increasing numbers of
people surviving to old age, prevention or treatment will become ever
more important. Ruth’s results show that a virus present in brain plays
a
major role in the main type of dementia, Alzheimer’s disease (AD). This
is intriguing both from the fundamental viewpoint and because it
indicates the possibility of prevention of AD by vaccination, and of
slowing the deterioration of those already afflicted, by treatment with
anti-viral agents.
Another recent discovery of hers is that in the case of yet another and
very different virus, hepatitis C virus (HCV), APOE determines the
severity of the damage (in the liver); intriguingly, the type 4 allele
is protective. This is important not only in demonstrating yet again
the significance of genetic factors in affecting the outcome of an
infection, but also in enabling prognoses to be made for the 170
million people worldwide who are infected with HCV. She also has
preliminary results suggesting that APOE determines age of infection of
infants by the malaria protozoan.
Ruth is now investigating the location of the virus in brain,
especially
to find if it resides in or near the characteristic neuropathological
features of AD, as well as the mechanism of interaction between virus
and genetic factor, the possible role of other viruses in dementia and
of APOE in diseases caused by other infectious agents, and the effect
of HSV1 on the metabolism of the two proteins associated with the
neuropathological features. She hopes that in future, clinical trials
will be funded to test the efficacy of anti-viral agents against AD; at
present there is no effective treatment.
Ruth coauthored
Herpes simplex virus interferes with amyloid precursor
protein processing,
Herpes simplex virus type 1, apolipoprotein E, and cholesterol: A
dangerous liaison in Alzheimer’s disease and other disorders,
Inflammatory consequences: benevolent, or virulent?,
Alzheimer’s disease, the neuroimmune axis, and viral
infection,
Infiltration of the brain by pathogens causes Alzheimer’s
disease,
Apolipoprotein E polymorphisms and risk of malaria,
Vaccination prevents latent HSV1 infection of mouse brain,
and
Apolipoprotein E-epsilon 4 protects against severe liver disease
caused
by hepatitis C virus.
Read the
full list of her publications!
Ruth earned her BSc in physics, her MSc in Biophysics, and then a
PhD
in Biophysics, all at London University.
Watch her SENS 3 talk
Herpes simplex virus type 1 in brain is a cause of the
neuropathological features of Alzheimer’s
disease.