title: Infectious Agents and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Exploring the Links.
abstract: Recent studies have shown that bacterial and viral infections are risk factors for various neurodegenerative diseases such as Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Multiple Sclerosis (MS), Alzheimer's disease (AD), and Lyme disease (LD). However, it is still controversial how the infections play a role in neurological diseases progression. Infections in central nervous system may lead multiple damages in infected and neighboring cells. The infection leads to the activation of inflammatory processes and host immune responses, which acts as defense mechanism and also causes damage to the host neuronal functions and viability. Several bacterial and viral pathogens have been reported for neurodegeneration, such as the production and deposit of misfolded protein aggregates, oxidative stress, deficient autophagic processes, synaptopathies and neuronal death. These effects may act in combination with other factors, like aging, metabolic diseases and the genetic makeup of the host. We will focus in this review on the possible link between neurodegeneration and infections particularly Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Borrelia burgdorferi, Mycoplasma etc.
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad Zubair
authors.initials: MZ
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Qamre
authors.initials: Q
authors.lastname: Alam
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.|Enzymoics, 7 Peterlee Place, Hebersham, NSW 2770, Australia.|Novel Global Community Educational Foundation, Australia.
authors.forename: Mohammad Amjad
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Kamal
authors.affiliation: Metabolomics &amp; Enzymology Unit, Fundamental and Applied Biology Group, King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.|Department of Medical Microbiology and Parasitology, Faculty of Medicine, King Abdulaziz University, P.O. Box 80205, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Asif Ahmad
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Jiman-Fatani
authors.affiliation: Clinical and Molecular Microbiology Laboratory, King Abdulaziz University Hospital, P.O. Box 80205, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Esam I
authors.initials: EI
authors.lastname: Azhar
authors.affiliation: Medical Laboratory Technology Department, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Mohammad Azhar
authors.initials: MA
authors.lastname: Khan
authors.affiliation: King Fahd Medical Research Center, King Abdulaziz University, P. O. Box 80216, Jeddah 21589, Saudi Arabia.
authors.forename: Absarul
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Haque
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D000890:Anti-Infective Agents / Q000737:chemistry / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D019636:Neurodegenerative Diseases / Q000188:drug therapy*
chemical_list: D000890:Anti-Infective Agents
keywords: AD; ALS; Borelia bugdorferi; Chlamydophila pneumoniae; Inflammation; LD; MS; Mycoplasma; Neurodegenrations; infection