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Previous research, conducted largely in rodents, has suggested that infection of the central nervous system (CNS), particularly infection by herpesviruses, might trigger neuroinflammation and subsequent Alzheimer disease (AD) in some people (NEJM JW Gen Med Sep 1 2018 and Neuron 2018; 99:64). To test this hypothesis in a more realistic model, investigators created human induced, pluripotent stem cells and coaxed them to become three-dimensional human-brain organoids (i.e., “mini-brains”) containing neurons and various types of glial cells that have electrical activity.
The investigators infected these human-brain organoids with low levels of herpes simplex virus (HSV) –1 or performed sham infections. During several weeks in the HSV-1–infecte…