Skip to main content

Thank you for visiting nature.com. You are using a browser version with limited support for CSS. To obtain the best experience, we recommend you use a more up to date browser (or turn off compatibility mode in Internet Explorer). In the meantime, to ensure continued support, we are displaying the site without styles and JavaScript.

  • News & Views
  • Published:

Dementia

A link between microbial infection and cognition?

A recent study of a large multi-ethnic cohort has shown that cumulative serum titres of antibodies against five common microbial pathogens are associated with an increased risk of cognitive impairment. Further studies are needed to better understand this risk and enable translation of the findings into effective preventative strategies.

This is a preview of subscription content, access via your institution

Access options

Buy this article

Prices may be subject to local taxes which are calculated during checkout

Figure 1: Neurological effects of infection.

References

  1. Schmidt, R. et al. Early inflammation and dementia: a 25-year follow-up of the HonoluluAsia Aging Study. Ann. Neurol. 52, 168–174 (2002).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  2. van Exel, E. et al. Interaction of atherosclerosis and inflammation in elderly subjects with poor cognitive function. Neurology 61, 169–51701 (2003).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  3. Katan, M. et al. Infectious burden and cognitive function: The Northern Manhattan Study. Neurology 80, 1209–1215 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  4. Elkind, M.S. et al. Infectious burden and risk of stroke: The Northern Manhattan Study. Arch. Neurol. 67, 33–38 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  5. Schneider, J.A., Boyle, P.A., Arvanitakis, Z., Bienias, J. L. & Bennett, D. A. Subcortical infarcts, Alzheimer's disease pathology, and memory function in older persons. Ann. Neurol. 62, 59–66 (2007).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  6. Jaeger, L.B. et al. Lipopolysaccharide alters the blood-brain barrier transport of amyloid beta protein: a mechanism for inflammation in the progression of Alzheimers disease. Brain Behav. Immun. 23, 507–517 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  7. Soscia, S.J. et al. The Alzheimers disease-associated amyloid β-protein is an antimicrobial peptide. PLoS ONE 5, e9505 (2010).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  8. Holmes, C. et al. Systemic inflammation and disease progression in Alzheimer disease. Neurology 73, 768–774 (2009).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

  9. Ball, M.J., Lukiw, W. J., Kammerman, E. M. & Hill, J. M. Intracerebral propagation of Alzheimer's disease: strengthening evidence of a herpes simplex virus etiology. Alzheimers Dement. 9, 169–175 (2013).

    Article  Google Scholar 

  10. Swardfager, W. et al. Brain derived neurotrophic factor, cardiopulmonary fitness and cognition in patients with coronary artery disease. Brain Behav. Immun. 25, 1264–1271 (2011).

    Article  CAS  Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgements

W. Swardfager acknowledges support from the Neuropsychopharmacology Research Group, Sunnybrook Research Institute, the Toronto Rehabilitation Institute and the Heart and Stroke Foundation Centre for Stroke Recovery, Toronto, ON, Canada. S. E. Black acknowledges support from the Department of Medicine, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, Sunnybrook Research Institute, and the Brill Chair in Neurology, Department of Medicine, University of Toronto.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sandra E. Black.

Ethics declarations

Competing interests

The authors declare no competing financial interests.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Cite this article

Swardfager, W., Black, S. A link between microbial infection and cognition?. Nat Rev Neurol 9, 301–302 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.93

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nrneurol.2013.93

Search

Quick links

Nature Briefing

Sign up for the Nature Briefing newsletter — what matters in science, free to your inbox daily.

Get the most important science stories of the day, free in your inbox. Sign up for Nature Briefing