A class of medicines used against HIV and hepatitis B seems to decrease the risk of Alzheimer’s. The drugs target inflammatory mechanisms.
Some drugs already used in therapies against HIV and hepatitis B, the Nucleosidic inhibitors of reverse transcriptase (NRI) They could offer a “significant protection” against Alzheimer’s disease.
This is what a study on two large US health databases suggests, which detected an association between the use of these medicines and the reduction of the risk of dementia, directly proportional to the years of hiring of the NRI. The study, which invites to explore more directly The relationship between these therapies and Alzheimer’s was published in the scientific journal Alzheimer’s & Dementia.
NRI: Inflammatory mechanisms in the sights
The nucleosidic inhibitors of reverse transcriptase block an enzyme that the US HIV virus to transform its RNA into DNA, thus preventing him from replicating himself. They also have anti -inflammatory properties because they inhibit the Inflammasomiprotein complexes responsible for activating inflammatory responses. Over the years, their dual action has made them protagonists of studies on the possible repositioning against other diseases, such as type 2 diabetes, macular degeneration or – in fact – Alzheimer’s.
For this reason, a group of scientists from the School of Medicine of the University of Virginia has chosen to investigate the relationship between the intake of NRTI and the risk of Alzheimer’s on a large slice of the population. The researchers had access to the databases of two American health insurance with information on therapies followed by over 271,000 people with more than fifty years, affected by HIV or hepatitis B. The insured had followed different types of treatments: who had a history of hiring of NRI among them showed an important reduction in Alzheimer’s risk in the following years.
More evident effect after years of therapies
One of the two databases, Veterans Health Administration, included 24 years of data (especially on male patients); The second database, Marketscan, included 14 years of data on a wider and more varied population, by age and sex. From the analysis, people have already been excluded already at the beginning of taking drugs with a diagnosis of Alzheimer’s.
In the first database, the reduction of Alzheimer’s risk in those who had taken the NRI drugs was 6% for each year of therapies. In the second database the reduction of the risk of dementia was 13% for each year of taking drugs. Therefore, the association between drugs against HIV and protection from Alzheimer grew proportional to the years of treatment, and was specific for this class of medicines: it was not present in patients who followed different therapies.
A link to be investigated more deeply
Given the observational nature of the study, which has limited itself to observing an association between two factors (Assumption of drugs and Alzheimer risk), a possible protective effect of the NRTI on dementias will be evaluated by controlled clinical studies.
If in the future confirmed, a possible repositioning of these drugs could be evaluated in the prevention of Alzheimer’s disease, considering that they have important side effects on the liver and the nervous system.
Another path is to try imitate their anti -inflammatory properties. US scientists are already working on a new drug that blocks the inflammasomes called K9, which could fulfill the same task in a more targeted, safe and effective way.
