By Sherry Squires
Boise State Focus Magazine
Could a flu vaccine help prevent Parkinson’s or Alzheimer’s disease?
Research by Dr . Troy Rohn in the Department of Biological Sciences at Boise State University is the first to show the presence of the influenza A virus in brains of individuals who died of Parkinson’s, offering new scientific data to support theories that a virus might trigger the disease .
“If I told you catching a common illness may increase your risk for Parkinson’s disease, you probably would say I am crazy,” Rohn said . “But it’s definitely a possibility .”
While the cause of Parkinson’s is unknown, scientists long have suspected that infection may play a role and there has been a good deal of anecdotal data to support the theory . But no previous scientific study has shown actual evidence of the influenza A virus in post- mortem brain tissue .
Rohn, whose primary research interest is Alzheimer’s disease, discovered the Parkinson’s disease connection earlier this year while studying proteins in the brains of Alzheimer’s patients . He became curious if the same proteins existed in the brains of those who died from Parkinson’s disease .
“We were looking for something totally different when we came across immune cells that you don’t usually find in the brain,” said Rohn . “The cells are only present when there is an infec- tion to fight off . We began to look more closely and found influenza A virus .”
The virus was found in the area of the brain where Parkinson’s disease originates . The study will have to be replicated with larger sample sizes, but it is an important first link to studies that have correlated a possible viral infection with contracting Parkinson’s disease later in life .
Rohn’s work at Boise State also has led to the development of an antibody that will help other researchers who are trying to determine triggers for a number of degenerative diseases . The university signed a licensing agreement this summer to make the antibody — the first developed at Boise State to be licensed — to biomedical researchers around the globe .
Rohn came to Boise State in 2000 . His research focuses on neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and the process by which apoptosis, or programmed cell death, occurs.
