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. 2020;20(2-3):97-103.
doi: 10.1159/000512874. Epub 2021 Jan 18.

Herpesvirus Infections and Risk of Parkinson's Disease

Alejandra Camacho-Soto  1 , Irene Faust  2 , Brad A Racette  2   3 , David B Clifford  2 , Harvey Checkoway  4   5 , Susan Searles Nielsen  2
Affiliations

Herpesvirus Infections and Risk of Parkinson's Disease

Alejandra Camacho-Soto et al. Neurodegener Dis. 2020.

Abstract

Introduction: Herpesviruses might play a role in the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative disorders. We sought to examine a possible association between alpha herpesvirus infections and Parkinson's disease.

Methods: We conducted a population-based case-control study of incident Parkinson's disease in 2009 Medicare beneficiaries age 66-90 years (89,790 cases, 118,095 randomly selected comparable controls). We classified beneficiaries with any diagnosis code for "herpes simplex" and/or "herpes zoster" in the previous 5 years as having had the respective alpha herpesviruses. In beneficiaries with Part D prescription coverage, we also identified those prescribed anti-herpetic medications. We calculated odds ratios (OR) and 95% CI between alpha herpesvirus diagnosis/treatment and Parkinson's disease with logistic regression, with adjustment for age, sex, race/ethnicity, smoking, and use of medical care.

Results: Parkinson's disease risk was inversely associated with herpes simplex (OR 0.79, 95% CI 0.74-0.84), herpes zoster (OR 0.88, 95% CI 0.85-0.91), and anti-herpetic medications (OR 0.87, 95% CI 0.80-0.96).

Conclusion: Herpesvirus infection or treatment might reduce risk of Parkinson's disease, but future studies will be required to explore whether this inverse association is causal.

Keywords: Herpesvirus; Medicare; Parkinson’s disease.

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Conflict of interest statement

Disclosure Statement

The authors have no conflicts of interest to declare.

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