Overview

• A large-scale analysis of over 270,000 patients found that nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) significantly reduce Alzheimer’s risk by 6-13% annually.
• NRTIs appear to protect against Alzheimer’s by inhibiting inflammasomes, which drive neuroinflammation and cognitive decline in the disease.
• This protective effect is specific to NRTIs, as other HIV medications did not show similar benefits in the study.
• A small trial of the NRTI lamivudine showed promise, reducing brain inflammation markers in Alzheimer’s patients after six months.
• Researchers are advancing both repurposed NRTIs and a novel inflammasome-blocking compound, K9, into clinical trials for Alzheimer’s prevention.