An existing drug for HIV could double as a preventative therapy for Alzheimer’s disease, according to researchers.
NRTIs (nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors) are antivirals that are approved to treat HIV infection, but scientists from UVA Health at the University of Virginia found that patients taking them were less likely to develop the common form of dementia.
There was a roughly 10% annual reduction in the risk of developing Alzheimer's disease in people taking NRTIs for every year of use of these drugs, according to lead study author Dr. Jayakrishna Ambati, M.D., professor of ophthalmology at UVA, who spoke to Fox News Digital about the finding.
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After coming across another mechanism that could potentially prevent Alzheimer’s, the researchers analyzed 24 years of health insurance data, including 270,000 patients.
The Alzheimer’s risk reduction among patients taking NRTIs was "significant and substantial," the researchers wrote in the findings, which were published in the journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
Now, the UVA team is calling for clinical trials of NRTIs to gauge their use for treating Alzheimer’s.
Approximately 10 million people worldwide are diagnosed with the common dementia each year.
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"This level of protection could translate into 60,000 fewer cases of Alzheimer's disease every year in our country, and up to one million fewer cases every year around the world," Ambati told Fox News Digital.
In addition to keeping the HIV virus from replicating, NRTIs also prevent the activation of inflammasomes, proteins that are involved in the development of Alzheimer’s.
"We had previously shown that NRTIs blocked the inflammasome, so it wasn't altogether surprising that people taking NRTIs might be protecting against this disease," Ambati noted.
"However, the degree of protection against Alzheimer's was quite surprising."
Dr. Marc Siegel, clinical professor of medicine at NYU Langone Health and Fox News senior medical analyst, was not involved in the study but commented on the findings.
"Inflammasomes are intracellular protein complexes that trigger the release of inflammatory cytokines," he told Fox News Digital. "HIV uses these inflammasomes to fight the immune system."
"These chemicals are likely responsible for making Alzheimer’s worse, or for accelerating the process of cognitive decline based on neuro-inflammation."
Rebecca Edelmeyer, Ph.D., vice president of Scientific Engagement at the Alzheimer's Association in Chicago, also reviewed the study’s findings, which she called "interesting."
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"Further research and specifically designed clinical trials are needed to fully understand the potential future use of NRTIs to reduce the risk of Alzheimer’s, but the study highlights the potential role drug repurposing can play in advancing new Alzheimer’s treatments," she told Fox News Digital.
Repurposing existing drugs can offer a "promising pathway," according to Edelmayer. As existing drugs’ safety and side effects are often already known, the studies can be quicker and less expensive than with new treatments, she added.
The research team acknowledged some limitations of the study.
"Like all retrospective health insurance database studies, the findings of our study are an association between this class of drugs and the development of Alzheimer's disease," Ambati told Fox News Digital.
"They don't necessarily provide a cause and effect — however, the fact that we found this link in multiple databases increases confidence in this result."
Siegel agreed that the new study is observational, but noted that it takes place over many years.
"It also shows that only this particular HIV drug — inflammasome — dramatically decreases the risk of Alzheimer’s, not the other HIV drugs, including protease inhibitors," the doctor said.
"I think this is convincing preliminary evidence that warrants further study," Siegel added. "It is very possible that this drug may be useful in Alzheimer’s prevention, given the increasing evidence implicating immune dysregulation and inflammation as causes of AD."
Looking ahead, the researchers have developed a new drug called K9. Like NRTIs, the novel medication blocks inflammasomes, but is "safer and more effective," according to Ambati.
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"The fact that the new drug reversed memory loss and improved spatial learning in mice further increases confidence in our findings," he told Fox News Digital.
The UVA team now plans to test K9 in clinical trials for Azheimer’s.
Ambati noted that people should not take NRTIs for Alzheimer’s prevention unless they are in the context of a clinical trial.
"If interested, they should be on the lookout for such trials for themselves or loved ones who may be affected," he advised.
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Nearly seven million people in the U.S. are currently living with Alzheimer’s, and the number is expected to reach 13 million by 2050, according to the Alzheimer’s Association.
The UVA study was funded in part by the UVA Strategic Investment Fund and the National Institutes of Health.
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