Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study
Objective A growing body of evidence points to a role for herpesviruses in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and a reduced risk of AD among patients receiving antiherpetic medications. We investigated the association between herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and AD using real-world data...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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BMJ Publishing Group
2025-05-01
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| Series: | BMJ Open |
| Online Access: | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e093946.full |
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| author | Christine Johnston Simon P Fletcher Yunhao Liu Shahed Iqbal Nadine Jarousse |
| author_facet | Christine Johnston Simon P Fletcher Yunhao Liu Shahed Iqbal Nadine Jarousse |
| author_sort | Christine Johnston |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | Objective A growing body of evidence points to a role for herpesviruses in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and a reduced risk of AD among patients receiving antiherpetic medications. We investigated the association between herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and AD using real-world data (RWD) from USA.Design In a matched case–control study, patients with AD aged ≥50 years diagnosed between 2006 and 2021 were identified from the IQVIA PharMetrics Plus claims database. Controls were matched in a 1:1 ratio with subjects with AD on age, sex, region, database entry year and healthcare visit numbers.Results The study included 344 628 AD case–control pairs. History of HSV-1 diagnosis was present in 1507 (0.44%) patients with AD compared with 823 (0.24%) controls. HSV-1 diagnosis was found to be associated with AD (adjusted OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.65 to 1.96). Patients with HSV-1 who used antiherpetics were less likely to develop AD compared with those who did not use antiherpetics (adjusted HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92).Conclusions Findings from this large RWD study implicate HSV-1 in the development of AD and highlight antiherpetic therapies as potentially protective for AD and related dementia. |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj-art-6bbf0cd2f6ef424f850f954fbd4798b1 |
| institution | OA Journals |
| issn | 2044-6055 |
| language | English |
| publishDate | 2025-05-01 |
| publisher | BMJ Publishing Group |
| record_format | Article |
| series | BMJ Open |
| spelling | doaj-art-6bbf0cd2f6ef424f850f954fbd4798b12025-08-20T02:33:14ZengBMJ Publishing GroupBMJ Open2044-60552025-05-0115510.1136/bmjopen-2024-093946Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control studyChristine Johnston0Simon P Fletcher1Yunhao Liu2Shahed Iqbal3Nadine Jarousse42 Department of Medicine, Division of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington, USA1 Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City, California, USA1 Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City, California, USA1 Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City, California, USA1 Gilead Sciences Inc, Foster City, California, USAObjective A growing body of evidence points to a role for herpesviruses in the development of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and a reduced risk of AD among patients receiving antiherpetic medications. We investigated the association between herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1) and AD using real-world data (RWD) from USA.Design In a matched case–control study, patients with AD aged ≥50 years diagnosed between 2006 and 2021 were identified from the IQVIA PharMetrics Plus claims database. Controls were matched in a 1:1 ratio with subjects with AD on age, sex, region, database entry year and healthcare visit numbers.Results The study included 344 628 AD case–control pairs. History of HSV-1 diagnosis was present in 1507 (0.44%) patients with AD compared with 823 (0.24%) controls. HSV-1 diagnosis was found to be associated with AD (adjusted OR 1.80; 95% CI 1.65 to 1.96). Patients with HSV-1 who used antiherpetics were less likely to develop AD compared with those who did not use antiherpetics (adjusted HR 0.83, 95% CI 0.74 to 0.92).Conclusions Findings from this large RWD study implicate HSV-1 in the development of AD and highlight antiherpetic therapies as potentially protective for AD and related dementia.https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e093946.full |
| spellingShingle | Christine Johnston Simon P Fletcher Yunhao Liu Shahed Iqbal Nadine Jarousse Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study BMJ Open |
| title | Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study |
| title_full | Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study |
| title_fullStr | Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study |
| title_full_unstemmed | Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study |
| title_short | Association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of Alzheimer’s disease: a retrospective case–control study |
| title_sort | association between herpes simplex virus type 1 and the risk of alzheimer s disease a retrospective case control study |
| url | https://bmjopen.bmj.com/content/15/5/e093946.full |
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