ReviewEpidemiologic reviews2013
Can infections cause Alzheimer's disease?
Review in Epidemiologic reviews, 2013. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 81 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
81 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 148 citations in OpenAlex.
- Pooled it
- Common Bacterial Infections and Risk of Dementia or Cognitive Decline: A Systematic Review.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2020Pooled it
- Can we refute a role for infections in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis?Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- Varicella-zoster virus reactivation and the risk of dementia.Nature medicine · 2025Article
- Porphromonas gingivalis infection induces gingipain-dependent changes in the brain vasculature of zebrafish larvae.Cell communication and signaling : CCS · 2025Article
- Cerebrospinal fluid microbiome revisited: no evidence of resident bacteria in archived samples.Microbiology spectrum · 2025Article
- HSV-1 Infection in Retinal Pigment Epithelial Cells: A Possible Contribution to Age-Related Macular Degeneration.Viruses · 2025Review
- Mediating and moderating effects of plasma proteomic biomarkers on the association between poor oral health problems and brain white matter microstructural integrity: the UK Biobank study.Molecular psychiatry · 2025Article
- Undaria pinnatifida fucoidan extract inhibits activation of the NF-κB signaling pathway by herpes simplex virus type 1 and prevents amyloid-β peptide synthesis in retinal pigment epithelium cells.Archives of virology · 2025Article
- Phospho-tau 181 is enhanced in saliva and plasma of edentulous patients: a first sign of dementia?Frontiers in oral health · 2025Article
- The effect of influenza vaccination on the rate of dementia amongst older adults.European journal of neurology · 2024Article
- Klebsiella pneumoniae infection increases risk of Alzheimer's Disease in the UK Biobank cohort.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- Do microbes play a role in Alzheimer's disease?Microbial biotechnology · 2024Article
- Hemophore-like proteins of the HmuY family in the oral and gut microbiome: unraveling the mystery of their evolution.Microbiology and molecular biology reviews : MMBR · 2024Review
- Secrets and lies of host-microbial interactions: MHC restriction and trans-regulation of T cell trafficking conceal the role of microbial agents on the edge between health and multifactorial/complex diseases.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2024Review
- Infection burden and its association with neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging markers in the UK Biobank.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Alzheimer's disease and infectious agents: a comprehensive review of pathogenic mechanisms and microRNA roles.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2024Review
- Re-examination of the risk of dementia after dengue virus infection: A population-based cohort study.PLoS neglected tropical diseases · 2023Article
- Cardiovascular health, infection burden, and incident dementia in the UK Biobank.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2023Article
- Cardiovascular health, infection burden and their interactive association with brain volumetric and white matter integrity outcomes in the UK Biobank.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2023Article
21 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
2 authors at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
Late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD) is the most prevalent cause of dementia among older adults, yet more than a century of research has not determined why this disease develops. One prevailing hypothesis is that late-onset AD is caused by infectious pathogens, an idea widely studied in both humans and experimental animal models. This review examines the infectious AD etiology hypothesis and summarizes existing evidence associating infectious agents with AD in humans. The various mechanisms through which different clinical and subclinical infections could cause or promote the progression of AD are considered, as is the concordance between putative infectious agents and the epidemiology of AD. We searched the PubMed, Web of Science, and EBSCO databases for research articles pertaining to infections and AD and systematically reviewed the evidence linking specific infectious pathogens to AD. The evidence compiled from the literature linking AD to an infectious cause is inconclusive, but the amount of evidence suggestive of an association is too substantial to ignore. Epidemiologic, clinical, and basic science studies that could improve on current understanding of the associations between AD and infections and possibly uncover ways to control this highly prevalent and debilitating disease are suggested.
Indexed as
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.