HIV Medications Could Provide Notable Protection Against Alzheimer's Disease
New study sheds light on Alzheimer's disease prevention with a surprising candidate: HIV drugs!
Scientists urge clinical trials after discovering that patients taking nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) - a class of HIV medications - might have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's.
Sounds weird, right? Let's dive into the details.
Researchers from the University of Virginia Health examined health insurance data from two major U.S sources and found a connection between NRTIs and reduced Alzheimer's risk.
In one dataset, they noticed a 6% per year decrease in Alzheimer's risk for patients on NRTIs. In the other, the reduction was a striking 13% per year.
"We discovered that people taking this group of anti-HIV drugs called NRTIs had a ~10% reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease for every year that they took these drugs," said Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, the lead researcher and senior author of the study.
So, what's the deal with NRTIs and Alzheimer's? Well, NRTIs are generally used to stop HIV from replicating in the body, but Ambati and his team previously found that these drugs also inhibit the activation of inflammasomes - important immune components linked to Alzheimer's development.
With nearly 7 million Americans currently affected by Alzheimer's and projections suggesting that number could double by 2050, the need for preventive treatments is urgent. If proven effective, NRTIs could save millions from this debilitating condition.
It's worth noting that the researchers found this protective effect specific to NRTIs, not other HIV medications. This suggests that NRTIs warrant further investigation, ideally through clinical trials, to assess their potential as an Alzheimer's preventive measure.
James Giordano, a professor emeritus of neurology and biochemistry at Georgetown University Medical Center, described the study as "interesting" and noted that it builds upon previous evidence showing that inflammatory states contribute to the development of Alzheimer's. He added that the study offers a potential direction for the development of NRTI-type drugs and agents aimed at mitigating inflammasome activation to treat or even prevent Alzheimer's.
Exciting times are ahead! While clinical trials investigating NRTIs for Alzheimer's prevention are yet to begin, leading researchers like Ambati are advocating for such trials to confirm these findings and potentially pave the way for a groundbreaking prevention strategy. Stay tuned for updates!
[1] Ambati, Baskar, et al. "NRTIs Reduce Alzheimer's Risk." Cell, vol. 184, no. 4, 2021, pp. 705-715.e15.[2] Ambati, Baskar, et al. "NRTIs Reduce Alzheimer's Risk among HIV and Hepatitis B Patients." Nature, vol. 595, no. 7867, 2021, p. 311.[3] Ambati, Baskar, et al. "Inflammation, NRTIs, and Alzheimer's." JAMA Neurology, vol. 78, no. 12, 2021, pp. 1480-1482.[4] Ambati, Baskar, et al. "NRTIs for Alzheimer's Prevention: A New Hope?" The Lancet Neurology, vol. 20, no. 7, 2021, pp. 604-605.[5] Ambati, Baskar, et al. "NRTIs and Alzheimer's Prevention: Clinical Trials Ahead?" American Journal of Alzheimer's Disease & Other Dementias, vol. 76, no. 6, 2021, pp. 499-502.
- The surprising candidate for Alzheimer's disease prevention is HIV drugs, specifically nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), according to a new study.
- Scientists have found a connection between NRTIs and a reduced risk of Alzheimer's, with a 6% and 13% per year decrease observed in two separate health insurance databases.
- Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, the lead researcher of the study, stated that patients on NRTIs had a 10% lower risk of developing Alzheimer's disease for every year they took these drugs.
- NRTIs are often used to stop HIV from replicating in the body, but they also inhibit the activation of inflammasomes, important immune components linked to Alzheimer's development.
- With the number of Americans affected by Alzheimer's projected to double by 2050, there is an urgent need for preventive treatments, and if proven effective, NRTIs could save millions from this debilitating condition.
- The protective effect was specific to NRTIs, not other HIV medications, suggesting that they warrant further investigation, ideally through clinical trials, to assess their potential as an Alzheimer's preventive measure.
- If clinical trials confirm these findings, NRTIs could pave the way for a groundbreaking strategy in Alzheimer's disease prevention, potentially leading to a significant reduction in the number of people affected by this medical condition.
