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Annoyed by frequent cold sores?
A gene may be making you vulnerable but it also may be the key to future remedies.
Researchers from the University of Utah and the University of Massachusetts say they have discovered that an obscure gene C21orf91 has variations that can protect against cold sore outbreaks or make them more likely.
Cold sores are the most common visible sign of an infection caused by herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1,) which is carried by more than 70 percent of the U.S. population. HSV-1 never disappears; it lies dormant in nerve cell bodies until it's reactivated, by causes that are uncertain, the U. said.
"Researchers believe that three factors contribute to HSV-1 reactivation – the virus itself, exposure to environmental factors, and genetic susceptibility," said John D. Kriesel, research associate professor of infectious diseases at the U., in a statement.
Using DNA collected from 43 large families, scientists had previously found that a region of chromosome 21 held six genes significantly linked to the infections.
In the new study of 618 participants, including 355 known to be infected, researchers analyzed that region using single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) genotyping, which identifies differences in genetic make-up between individuals.
They found 45 DNA sequence variations, then probed whether there was an association between them and the frequency of cold sores.
They identified five major variations of the gene C21orf91, the U. said. Two seem to protect against HSV-1 reactivation and two seem to increase the likelihood of cold sore outbreaks.
"If this data is confirmed among a larger, unrelated population, this discovery could have important implications for the development of drugs that affect cold sore frequency," Kriesel said in the statement.
The findings are published in the Dec. 1 issue of the Journal of Infectious Diseases, the U. said.
Kriesel's collaborators at the U. include Maurine R. Hobbs, research assistant professor of internal medicine and adjunct assistant professor of human genetics, and Mark F. Leppert, distinguished professor and former chair of human genetics.