Antiviral treatment associated with reduced risk of clinical Alzheimer's disease : A nested case‐control study

• Published in: Alzheimer's & Dementia: Translational Research & Clinical Interventions
• Main Authors: Hemmingsson, Eva‐Stina, Hjelmare, Ellen, Weidung, Bodil, Olsson, Jan, Josefsson, Maria, Adolfsson, Rolf, Nyberg, Lars, Elgh, Fredrik, Lövheim, Hugo
• Format: Article in Journal/Newspaper
• Language: English
• Published: Uppsala universitet, Geriatrik 2021
• Subjects: Neurosciences; Neurovetenskaper; Northern Sweden
• Online Access: http://urn.kb.se/resolve?urn=urn:nbn:se:uu:diva-463079; https://doi.org/10.1002/trc2.12187

Introduction In this nested case-control study, we investigated if antiviral treatment given prior to onset of Alzheimer's disease (AD) could influence incident AD. Methods From a large population-based cohort study in northern Sweden, 262 individuals that later developed AD were compared to a non-AD matched control group with respect to prescriptions of herpes antiviral treatment. All included subjects were herpes simplex virus 1 (HSV1) carriers and the matching criteria were age, sex, apolipoprotein E genotype (ε4 allele carriership), and study sample start year. Results Among those who developed AD, 6 prescriptions of antivirals were found, compared to 20 among matched controls. Adjusted for length of follow-up, a conditional logistic regression indicated a difference in the risk for AD development between groups (odds ratio for AD with an antiviral prescription 0.287, P = .018). Discussion Antiviral treatment might possibly reduce the risk for later development of HSV1-associated AD.