Multiple infectious agents, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, and protozoa, have been linked to Alzheimer's disease (AD) risk by independent lines of evidence. We explored this association by comparing the frequencies of viral species identified in a large sample of AD cases and controls.
DNA sequence reads that did not align to the human genome in sequences were mapped to viral reference sequences, quantified, and then were tested for association with AD in whole exome sequences (WES) and whole genome sequences (WGS) datasets.
Several viruses were significant predictors of AD according to the machine learning classifiers. Subsequent regression analyses showed that herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1) (odds ratio [OR] = 3.71, p = 8.03 × 10-4) and human papillomavirus 71 (HPV-71; OR = 3.56, p = 0.02), were significantly associated with AD after Bonferroni correction. The phylogenetic-related cluster of Herpesviridae was significantly associated with AD in several strata of the data (p < 0.01).
Our results support the hypothesis that viral infection, especially HSV-1, is associated with AD risk.
Pharmacology, Toxicology and Pharmaceutical Science
2
6%
Linguistics
1
3%
Nursing and Health Professions
1
3%
Agricultural and Biological Sciences
1
3%
Other
3
10%
Unknown
19
61%
Attention Score in Context
Attention Score in Context
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 18. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 02 January 2026.
All research outputs
#2,568,773
of 34,560,275 outputs
Outputs from Alzheimer's & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association
#1,514
of 7,127 outputs
Outputs of similar age
#36,866
of 385,588 outputs
Outputs of similar age from Alzheimer's & Dementia: the Journal of the Alzheimer's Association
#36
of 110 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,560,275 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 92nd percentile: it's in the top 10% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 7,127 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 31.7. This one has done well, scoring higher than 78% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 385,588 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 90% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 110 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has gotten more attention than average, scoring higher than 66% of its contemporaries.
