Researchers here process epidemiological data to arrive at an estimate of the contribution of cytomegalovirus infection to age-related disease. This assumes causation to arrive at these numbers, comparing infection status with presence or absence of specific age-related conditions. Cytomegalovirus is a very prevalent form of persistent herpesvirus infection, with upwards of 90% of older individuals testing positive for its presence. It is thought that cytomegalovirus infection is disruptive to the aged adaptive immune system, either generating excess inflammatory signaling, or driving expansion of memory T cells dedicated to this virus at the expense of T cells capable of responding to novel threats. This in turn contributes to a faster onset and progression of age-related conditions.
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection has been indicted in the etiology of multiple aging-related diseases. We aimed to quantify the proportion of diseases that could be prevented with a potential CMV treatment among US older individuals. We analyzed disease prevalence among 8,934 eligible individuals from the US Health and Retirement Study (HRS) in 2016-2020. In our hypothetical intervention, the treatment would improve immune control of CMV and shift the distribution of continuous CMV IgG antibody levels from the highest quartile to the lower 3 quartiles. We estimated top-quartile CMV level attributable fractions for 7 outcomes: heart diseases, stroke, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, cancers, diabetes, and difficulty with Activities of Daily Living using a novel logistic regression-based approach.
In the study sample, a hypothetical intervention that decreased CMV IgG below the highest quartile level in 2016 would result in a 3.57 percentage points reduction of diabetes cases and a 1.81 percentage points reduction of high blood pressure cases among Non-Hispanic White (NHW) women. Among NHW men, the same intervention would lead to a 2.43 percentage points reduction of diabetes, a 2.89 percentage points reduction of heart diseases and a 2.52 percentage points reduction of high blood pressure. Our findings provide initial evidence for the potential population health impact of CMV intervention, specifically on high blood pressure, diabetes, and heart diseases.
Link: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.lana.2025.101122
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