The Hallmarks of Aging are well established, but what is less discussed is the impact of microbes. Viruses, including SARS-CoV-2 and HSV-1 cause mitochondrial dysfunction-more specifically, they cause mitochondria to release some of their DNA, which triggers antiviral immunity. When considering that blood levels of mitochondrial DNA increase during aging, is aging characterized by an increased viral burden?
Paper links:
Decoding SARS-CoV-2 hijacking of host mitochondria in COVID-19
pathogenesis: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32510973/
Circulating mitochondrial DNA increases with age and is a familiar trait: Implications for “inflamm‐aging”: https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1002/eji.
National Seroprevalence and Trends in Herpes Simplex Virus Type 1 in the United States, 1976–1994: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/15608591/
Type specific seroprevalence of HSV‐1 and HSV‐2 in four geographical regions of Poland: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2564693/
Herpes simplex virus seroprevalence among children, adolescents and adults in Greece: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/18482949/
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