Scholars@Duke
Rachel Holmes

Scholarly Works

Towards personalized vaccine repurposing for Alzheimer's prevention: genotype-specific protective association of the shingles vaccine with odds of Alzheimer's disease in participants of two large cohort studies.

Journal article BMC neurology · February 2026 BACKGROUND: Our earlier study found that adult vaccination against shingles (herpes zoster infection caused by the reactivation of the varicella-zoster virus) was associated with significantly reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) later in life. Here, w ... Full text Cite

Basic Science and Pathogenesis.

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 2025 BackgroundAPOE4 is the strongest genetic risk factor for late-onset Alzheimer's disease (AD), with a higher effect in females than in males. Identifying factors that may reduce the detrimental impact of APOE4 on AD is an important research objecti ... Full text Cite

Developing Topics.

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 2025 BackgroundAccumulating evidence points to a major role of compromised immunity in Alzheimer's Disease (AD). The MIR146a and COMT genes are both known for their involvement in immune responses, as well as in AD-related traits. COMT also regulates t ... Full text Cite

Developing Topics.

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 2025 BackgroundInfections and neuroinflammation are increasingly recognized as key contributors to the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Emerging evidence suggests that the immune-regulating genes GDF15 and MIR146A are promising targets for dev ... Full text Cite

Public Health.

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 2025 BackgroundOur earlier study using Medicare-linked data found that vaccination against shingles was associated with ∼20% reduced risk of Alzheimer's disease (AD) later in life. Here, we investigated genotype-specific associations of the shingles va ... Full text Cite

Developing Topics.

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 2025 BackgroundAPOE4 and its proxy, rs2075650 (G) allele, are strongly associated with Alzheimer's disease (AD), though the mechanisms remain debated. APOE4 has also been linked to infection severity. Infections, including pneumonia, have, in turn, bee ... Full text Cite

THE INTERPLAY BETWEEN GENETIC VARIANTS IN MIR146A AND ABCG2 GENES IS ASSOCIATED WITH HUMAN SURVIVAL

Conference Innovation in Aging · December 31, 2024 AbstractThe ABCG2 gene is well-known for its role in developing drug resistance and for its impact on the survival of cancer patients. To modulate the effects of ABCG2 on health and survival different interv ... Full text Cite

AGE-RELATED CHANGES IN BODY WEIGHT AS DETERMINANTS OF EXTREME LONGEVITY

Conference Innovation in Aging · December 31, 2024 AbstractAge-related changes in body weight may mirror fundamental processes of aging and ontogeny that contribute to determining human longevity limits. We estimated the mean age trajectories of weight, alon ... Full text Cite

Basic Science and Pathogenesis

Journal article Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association · December 1, 2024 BACKGROUND: Results of recent analyses indicate that axon demyelination may play an important role in AD pathology. The MBP gene encodes a myelin basic protein involved in axon myelination in the nervous system including the central nervous system. Polymor ... Full text Cite

Patterns of Aging Changes in Bodyweight May Predict Alzheimer's Disease.

Journal article J Alzheimers Dis · 2024 Relationships between patterns of aging-changes in bodyweight and AD are not fully understood. We compared mean age-trajectories of weight between those who did and did not develop late-onset-AD, and evaluated impact of age at maximum weight (AgeMax), and ... Full text Link to item Cite

How are APOE4, changes in body weight, and longevity related? Insights from a causal mediation analysis.

Journal article Frontiers in aging · January 2024 The ε4 allele of the APOE gene (APOE4) is known for its negative association with human longevity; however, the mechanism is unclear. APOE4 is also linked to changes in body weight, and the latter changes were associated with survival in some ... Full text Cite

Is being overweight a causal factor in better survival among the oldest old? a Mendelian randomization study.

Journal article Frontiers in aging · January 2024 Overweight, defined by a body mass index (BMI) between 25 and 30, has been associated with enhanced survival among older adults in some studies. However, whether being overweight is causally linked to longevity remains unclear. To investigate this, we cond ... Full text Cite

Vaccination Against Pneumonia May Provide Genotype-Specific Protection Against Alzheimer's Disease.

Journal article J Alzheimers Dis · 2023 Vaccine repurposing that considers individual genotype may aid personalized prevention of Alzheimer's disease (AD). In this retrospective cohort study, we used Cardiovascular Health Study data to estimate associations of pneumococcal polysaccharide vaccine ... Full text Link to item Cite

PATTERNS OF AGING CHANGES IN BODY WEIGHT AND BMI MAY PREDICT CHANCES OF ALZHEIMER'S DISEASE AND LONGEVITY

Conference Innovation in Aging · December 20, 2022 AbstractBackgroundLower bodyweight/BMI was previously linked to AD and frailty; however, the role of long-term changes in the bodyweig ... Full text Cite