ArticleExperimental gerontology2024
Associations of infections and vaccines with Alzheimer's disease point to a role of compromised immunity rather than specific pathogen in AD.
Article in Experimental gerontology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 23 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
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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.
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Who cites it
23 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 39 citations in OpenAlex.
- Herpesviruses, antiviral treatment, and the risk of dementia - systematic review and meta-analysis.Alzheimer's research & therapy · 2025Pooled it
- Varicella zoster virus and the central nervous system.Nature reviews. Microbiology · 2026Review
- Can we refute a role for infections in Alzheimer's disease pathogenesis?Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · 2026Article
- The Role and Safety of Aluminum Adjuvants in Childhood Vaccines.Pediatrics · 2026Review
- Article
- Association between shingles vaccination and slower biological aging: evidence from a US population-based cohort study.The journals of gerontology. Series A, Biological sciences and medical sciences · 2026Article
- Herpes zoster vaccination and incident dementia in Canada: an analysis of natural experiments.The Lancet. Neurology · 2026Article
- Lower hippocampal volume partly mediates the association between rs6859 in theFrontiers in aging neuroscience · 2026Article
- Exploring the role of infectious pathogens in Alzheimer's disease neuroinflammation.Frontiers in cellular and infection microbiology · 2026Review
- Article
- Lower Hippocampal Volume Partly Mediates the Association Between rs6859 in themedRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2025Article
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- Review
- Article
- Shattering the Amyloid Illusion: The Microbial Enigma of Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis-From Gut Microbiota and Viruses to Brain Biofilms.Microorganisms · 2025Review
- Article
- Traffic-related air pollution significantly aggravates the detrimental effect of infections on the risk of Alzheimer's disease and other dementias, especially in non-carriers ofFrontiers in dementia · 2025Article
- Article
- The effect of herpes zoster vaccination at different stages of the disease course of dementia: Two quasi-randomized studies.medRxiv : the preprint server for health sciences · 2024Article
- The "Hit and Run" Hypothesis for Alzheimer's Disease Pathogenesis.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Article
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Authors and funding
8 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
Abstract
introductionDiverse pathogens (viral, bacterial, fungal) have been associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD) and related traits in various studies. This suggests that compromised immunity, rather than specific microbes, may play a role in AD by increasing an individual's vulnerability to various infections, which could contribute to neurodegeneration. If true, then vaccines that have heterologous effects on immunity, extending beyond protection against the targeted disease, may hold a potential for AD prevention.
methodsWe evaluated the associations of common adult infections (herpes simplex, zoster (shingles), pneumonia, and recurrent mycoses), and vaccinations against shingles and pneumonia, with the risks of AD and other dementias in a pseudorandomized sample of the Health and Retirement Study (HRS).
resultsShingles, pneumonia and mycoses, diagnosed between ages 65 and 75, were all associated with significantly increased risk of AD later in life, by 16 %-42 %. Pneumococcal and shingles vaccines administered between ages 65-75 were both associated with a significantly lower risk of AD, by 15 %-21 %. These effects became less pronounced when AD was combined with other dementias. DISCUSSION: Our findings suggest that both the pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine and the live attenuated zoster vaccine can offer significant protection against AD. It remains to be determined if non-live shingles vaccine has a similar beneficial effect on AD. This study also found significant associations of various infections with the risk of AD, but not with the risks of other dementias. This indicates that vulnerability to infections may play a more significant role in AD than in other types of dementia, which warrants further investigation.
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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.