Association of antiseizure medication with lower amyloid and tau burden

A study examined the relationship between antiseizure medication (ASM) use and Alzheimer's disease biomarkers in 52,537 participants from the National Alzheimer's Coordinating Center. Researchers compared amyloid and tau protein levels in cerebrospinal fluid and using positron emission tomography between ASM users and non-users. ASM users showed lower amyloid levels across various brain regions, with a more pronounced effect in APOE epsilon 4 carriers. All three measured tau-PET indicators were significantly lower in ASM users. The amyloid findings were confirmed in an independent dataset from the Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Compared drug classes showed no similar amyloid effect. These results suggest potential for antiseizure medications as candidates for disease-modifying drugs in Alzheimer's disease.