Association between exposure to HSV1 and cognitive functioning in a general population of adolescents. The TRAILS study

PLoS One. 2014 Jul 1;9(7):e101549. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0101549. eCollection 2014.

Abstract

Background: Infections with different herpes viruses have been associated with cognitive functioning in psychiatric patients and healthy adults. The aim of this study was to find out whether antibodies to different herpes viruses are prospectively associated with cognitive functioning in a general adolescent population.

Methods: This study was performed in TRAILS, a large prospective general population cohort (N = 1084, 54% female, mean age 16.2 years (SD 0.6)). At age 16, immunoglobulin G antibodies against HSV1, HSV2, CMV and EBV were measured next to high sensitive C-Reactive Protein (hsCRP). Two years later, immediate memory and executive functioning were assessed using the 15 words task and the self ordered pointing task. Multiple linear regression analysis with bootstrapping was performed to study the association between viral infections and cognitive function, adjusting for gender, socioeconomic status, ethnicity, and cannabis use.

Results: Presence of HSV1 antibodies was associated with memory function ((B = -0.272, 95% CI = -0.556 to -0.016, p = 0.047)), while the association with executive functioning did not reach statistical significance (B = 0.560, 95% CI is -0.053 to 1.184, p = 0.075). The level of HSV1 antibodies was associated with both memory function (B = -0.160, 95% CI = -0.280 to -0.039, p = 0.014) and executive functioning (B = 0.296, 95% CI = 0.011 to 0.578, p = 0.046). Other herpes viruses and hsCRP were not associated with cognitive functioning.

Conclusions: Both presence and level of HSV1 antibodies are prospectively associated with reduced cognitive performance in a large cohort of adolescents.

Publication types

  • Research Support, Non-U.S. Gov't

MeSH terms

  • Adolescent
  • Adult
  • Antibodies, Viral / blood
  • Cognition*
  • Female
  • Herpes Simplex / blood
  • Herpes Simplex / epidemiology
  • Herpes Simplex / physiopathology*
  • Herpesvirus 1, Human*
  • Humans
  • Immunoglobulin G / blood
  • Male
  • Memory*
  • Netherlands / epidemiology

Substances

  • Antibodies, Viral
  • Immunoglobulin G

Grants and funding

This research is part of the TRacking Adolescents' Individual Lives Survey (TRAILS). Participating centers of TRAILS include various departments of the University Medical Center and University of Groningen, the Erasmus University Medical Center Rotterdam, the University of Utrecht, the Radboud Medical Center Nijmegen, and the Parnassia Bavo group, all in the Netherlands. TRAILS has been financially supported by various grants from the Netherlands Organization for Scientific Research NWO (Medical Research Council program grant GB-MW 940-38-011; ZonMW Brainpower grant 100-001-004; ZonMw Risk Behavior and Dependence grants 60-60600-97-118; ZonMw Culture and Health grant 261-98-710; Social Sciences Council medium-sized investment grants GB-MaGW 480-01-006 and GB-MaGW 480-07-001; Social Sciences Council project grants GB-MaGW 452-04-314 and GB-MaGW 452-06-004; NWO large-sized investment grant 175.010.2003.005; NWO Longitudinal Survey and Panel Funding 481-08-013), the Dutch Ministry of Justice (WODC), the European Science Foundation (EuroSTRESS project FP-006), Biobanking and Biomolecular Resources Research Infrastructure BBMRI-NL (CP 32), the participating universities, and Accare Center for Child and Adolescent Psychiatry. The authors are grateful to all adolescents, their parents and teachers who participated in this research and to everyone who worked on this project and made it possible. The funders had no role in the study design, data collections and analysis, decision to publish or preparation of the manuscript.