HIV Medications Possibly Offer Substantial Defense Against Alzheimer's Disease
HIV drugs could potentially be used to help prevent Alzheimer's disease, according to a new study. Researchers at UVA Health discovered that patients taking nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs)—a class of drugs commonly used to treat HIV—might have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's.
This finding, published in , might have significant implications for the millions of people affected by Alzheimer's, as it reveals a possible connection between these HIV drugs and a decreased risk of the brain disorder.
A Surprising Connection
In the study, the researchers analyzed health insurance databases from over 270,000 patients aged 50 and older who were being treated for HIV or hepatitis B and had no prior diagnosis of Alzheimer's. They found that those taking NRTIs experienced a marked reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's.
Jayakrishna Ambati, MD, a senior researcher in the study and founding director of UVA's Centre for Advanced Vision Science, explained the key findings to Medical News Today:
"We found that people taking a 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."
- Jayakrishna Ambati, MD
The researchers had previously discovered that NRTIs block the activation of inflammasomes, immune system components that have been linked to the development of Alzheimer's disease. This led them to investigate whether patients taking NRTIs might have a lower risk of developing Alzheimer's.
Potential Preventive Measure
The research team observed that the reduced risk of Alzheimer's was specific to patients taking NRTIs and was not seen in those using other types of HIV medications. This distinction led them to conclude that NRTIs should be formally tested in clinical trials to assess their potential to prevent Alzheimer's disease.
With nearly 7 million Americans currently affected by Alzheimer's and projections indicating that number could double to 13 million by 2050, the need for preventive treatments is growing. In addition, the financial burden is expected to rise sharply, with the annual cost of care for Alzheimer's and related dementias projected to increase from $384 billion today to nearly $1 trillion in the coming decades, according to the Alzheimer's Association.
James Giordano, PhD, Professor Emeritus of Neurology and Biochemistry, Georgetown University Medical Center, Washington, DC, who was not involved in the research, said:
"This is an interesting retrospective study.""It provides evidence that use of nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) that have been used to treat human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), and which inhibit development of inflammasomes, is positively correlated to a reduced incidence of Alzheimer's disease."
This study strengthens the hypothesis that inflammasome-mediated inflammatory processes are operative in Alzheimer's and offers potential direction for the development of NRTI type drugs and molecular agents aimed at mitigating inflammasome development as a viable treatment - or perhaps preventive intervention - for Alzheimer's.
- This new study suggests that a class of drugs called nucleotide reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs), commonly used to treat HIV, might help prevent Alzheimer's disease.
- The researchers investigating this potential connection found that patients taking NRTIs experienced a significant decrease in the risk of developing Alzheimer's.
- In the medical field, this connection between HIV drugs and a lower risk of Alzheimer's could have significant implications for people affected by Alzheimer's dementia.
- The study indicates that the reduced risk of Alzheimer's is specific to patients taking NRTIs and not seen in those using other types of HIV medications.
- The research team suggests that NRTIs should be tested in clinical trials to assess their potential as preventive treatments for Alzheimer's disease.
- With the rising number of people affected by Alzheimer's and the growing financial burden, a preventive measure like this could be a major breakthrough in the health and wellness industry, providing a new approach to therapies and treatments for neurological disorders and dementia.
- This study supports the hypothesis that inflammasome-mediated inflammatory processes play a role in Alzheimer's disease and provides a direction for the development of NRTI type drugs and molecular agents that could potentially mitigate inflammasome development, offering a promising treatment or preventive intervention for Alzheimer's disease.
