ArticleBMJ open2020
Antiviral therapy: Valacyclovir Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease (VALAD) Trial: protocol for a randomised, double-blind,placebo-controlled, treatment trial.
Article in BMJ open, 2020. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. It is linked to trial NCT03282916 (Anti-viral Therapy in Alzheimer's Disease), which is not on this map. Cited by 49 papers, 1 of them a synthesis 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.
Anti-viral Therapy in Alzheimer's Disease
Who cites it
49 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 76 citations in OpenAlex.
- Topical and Systemic Therapeutic Approaches in the Treatment of Oral Herpes Simplex Virus Infection: A Systematic Review.International journal of molecular sciences · 2025Pooled it
- Chemokines in Alzheimer's Disease: Early Defence, Late Damage and the Impact of Sex and Infection.Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology · 2026Review
- Beyond association: A quantitative analysis of the infectious burden in Alzheimer's disease.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2026Article
- Discovery of novel perillyl and myrtenyl nucleobase conjugates as dual anti-Alzheimer and antimicrobial agents.Molecular diversity · 2026Article
- Viral Infections and Neurodegenerative Diseases: Reinterpreting the Crosstalk Through a Dual-Role Lens.Current microbiology · 2026Review
- Microglia-Astrocyte Cooperation and Peripheral T Cells in Alzheimer's Disease: State-of-the-Art and Treatment Perspectives.International journal of molecular sciences · 2026Review
- Implications of virus-induced stress granules in tauopathies.Translational neurodegeneration · 2026Review
- Valacyclovir Mitigates Amyloid Plaque Deposition, P-Tau Aggregation, and Neuroinflammation in Streptozotocin induced Alzheimer's Disease Rat Model.Molecular neurobiology · 2026Article
- Research Progress on the Pathogenesis, Therapeutic Strategies, and Phthalocyanine Compounds for Alzheimer's Disease.Current Alzheimer research · 2026Review
- A high-throughput, quantitative platform using 2D dissociated human cerebral organoids to model neuroinflammation in Alzheimer's disease.NPJ dementia · 2026Article
- Herpesvirus initiation of dementias and autoimmune diseases.Journal of neurovirology · 2025Review
- Association between herpes simplex virus 1 and dementia: a systematic review protocol.BMJ open · 2025Article
- Antiageing strategy for neurodegenerative diseases: from mechanisms to clinical advances.Signal transduction and targeted therapy · 2025Review
- Exploring the role of T cells in Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases: Emerging therapeutic insights from the T Cells in the Brain symposium.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Article
- Knowledge graph and its application in the study of neurological and mental disorders.Frontiers in psychiatry · 2025Review
- Charting the research frontier for viral infections, immunomodulation, and dementia: a perspective on synaptic biomarkers as essential clinical trial endpoints.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2025Article
- Advancements in Immunity and Dementia Research: Highlights from the 2023 AAIC Advancements: Immunity Conference.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2025Review
- Underestimated virus impaired cognition-more evidence and more work to do.Frontiers in immunology · 2025Review
- Contribution of CNS and extra-CNS infections to neurodegeneration: a narrative review.Journal of neuroinflammation · 2024Review
- Neuroinflammation of Microglial Regulation in Alzheimer's Disease: Therapeutic Approaches.Molecules (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
16 authors at 7 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionAfter infection, herpes simplex virus-1 (HSV1) becomes latent in the trigeminal ganglion and can enter the brain via retrograde axonal transport. Recurrent reactivation of HSV1 may lead to neurodegeneration and Alzheimer's disease (AD) pathology. HSV1 (oral herpes) and HSV2 (genital herpes) can trigger amyloid beta-protein (Aβ) aggregation and HSV1 DNA is common in amyloid plaques. Anti-HSV drugs reduce Aβ and phosphorylated tau accumulation in cell-culture models. Cognitive impairment is greater in patients with HSV seropositive, and antiviral drugs show robust efficacy against peripheral HSV infection. Recent studies of electronic health records databases demonstrate that HSV infections increase dementia risk, and that antiviral medication treatment reduces this risk. The generic antiviral drug valacyclovir was superior to placebo in improving memory in a schizophrenia pilot trial but has not been tested in AD. METHODS AND ANALYSIS: In patients with mild AD who test positive for HSV1 or HSV2 serum antibodies, valacyclovir, repurposed as an anti-AD drug, will be compared with placebo (lactose pills) in 130 patients (65 valacyclovir and 65 placebo) in a randomised, double-blind, 78-week phase II proof-of-concept trial. Patients on valacyclovir, dose-titrated from 2 g to a targeted oral dose of 4 g daily, compared with placebo, are hypothesised to show smaller cognitive and functional decline, and, using ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION: The trial is being overseen by the New York State Psychiatric Institute Institutional Review Board (protocol 7537), the National Institute on Ageing, and the Data Safety Monitoring Board. Written informed consent is obtained for all subjects. Results will be disseminated via publication, clinicaltrials.gov, media and conferences. TRIAL REGISTRATION NUMBER: ClinicalTrials.gov identifier (NCT03282916) Pre-results.
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Identifiers
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.