ArticleJournal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD2021
Herpes Labialis, Chlamydophila pneumoniae, Helicobacter pylori, and Cytomegalovirus Infections and Risk of Dementia: The Framingham Heart Study.
Article in Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD, 2021. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 17 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
17 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 22 citations in OpenAlex.
- Herpesviruses, antiviral treatment, and the risk of dementia - systematic review and meta-analysis.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Association ofFrontiers in medicine · 2025Pooled it
- Recent Insights into the Role of Herpesviridae in Alzheimer's Disease: A Structured Narrative Review Based on a Systematic Literature Search.Neurology international · 2026Review
- Helicobacter pylori infection, atrophic gastritis, and disabling dementia: the Japan Public Health Center-based Prospective Study.Environmental health and preventive medicine · 2026Article
- Human Cytomegalovirus Infection and Neurocognitive and Neuropsychiatric Health.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2024Review
- Common infections and neuroimaging markers of dementia in three UK cohort studies.Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2024Article
- Herpes Simplex Viral Infection Doubles the Risk of Dementia in a Contemporary Cohort of Older Adults: A Prospective Study.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2024Article
- Infection burden and its association with neurite orientation dispersion and density imaging markers in the UK Biobank.Brain, behavior, and immunity · 2024Article
- Anti-CMV IgG Seropositivity is Associated with Plasma Biomarker Evidence of Amyloid-β Accumulation.Journal of Alzheimer's disease : JAD · 2024Article
- Article
- Nutrition in Alzheimer's disease: a review of an underappreciated pathophysiological mechanism.Science China. Life sciences · 2023Review
- 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
- Peripheral inflammation and neurocognitive impairment: correlations, underlying mechanisms, and therapeutic implications.Frontiers in aging neuroscience · 2023Review
- Insights of Valacyclovir in Treatment of Alzheimer's Disease: Computational Docking Studies and Scopolamine Rat Model.Current neurovascular research · 2022Article
- Gram-negative bacteria and their lipopolysaccharides in Alzheimer's disease: pathologic roles and therapeutic implications.Translational neurodegeneration · 2021Review
- Unwanted Exacerbation of the Immune Response in Neurodegenerative Disease: A Time to Review the Impact.Frontiers in cellular neuroscience · 2021Review
- The association of specific and cumulative exposure to infectious agents with cognitive impairment in older Hispanic adults.Journal of Alzheimer's disease reportsArticle
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
8 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
backgroundAn association between chronic infectious diseases and development of dementia has been suspected for decades, based on the finding of pathogens in postmortem brain tissue and on serological evidence. However, questions remain regarding confounders, reverse causality, and how accurate, reproducible and generalizable those findings are.
objectiveInvestigate whether exposure to Herpes simplex (manifested as herpes labialis), Chlamydophila pneumoniae (C. pneumoniae), Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori), and cytomegalovirus (CMV) modifies the risk of dementia in a populational cohort.
methodsQuestionnaires regarding incidence of herpes infections were administered to Original Framingham Study participants (n = 2,632). Serologies for C. pneumoniae, H. pylori, and CMV were obtained in Original (n = 2,351) and Offspring cohort (n = 3,687) participants. Participants are under continuous dementia surveillance. Brain MRI and neuropsychological batteries were administered to Offspring participants from 1999-2005. The association between each infection and incident dementia was tested with Cox models. Linear models were used to investigate associations between MRI or neuropsychological parameters and serologies.
resultsThere was no association between infection serologies and dementia incidence, total brain volume, and white matter hyperintensities. Herpes labialis was associated with reduced 10-year dementia risk (HR 0.66, CI 0.46-0.97), but not for the duration of follow-up. H. pylori antibodies were associated with worse global cognition (β -0.14, CI -0.22, -0.05).
conclusionWe found no association between measures of chronic infection and incident dementia, except for a reduction in 10-year dementia risk for patients with herpes labialis. This unexpected result requires confirmation and further characterization, concerning antiviral treatment effects and capture of episodes.
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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.