The relationship of early- and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease genes with COVID-19

Individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases have been exposed to excess risk by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID-19’s main manifestations include high body temperature, dry cough, and exhaustion. Nevertheless, some affected individuals may have an atypical presentation at diagnosis but suffer neurological signs and symptoms as the first disease manifestation. These findings collectively show the neurotropic nature of SARS-CoV-2 virus and its ability to involve the central nervous system. In addition, Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19 has a number of common risk factors and comorbid conditions including age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, and the expression of APOE ε4. Until now, a plethora of studies have examined the COVID-19 disease but only a few studies has yet examined the relationship of COVID-19 and Alzheimer’s disease as risk factors of each other. This review emphasizes the recently published evidence on the role of the genes of early- or late-onset Alzheimer’s disease in the susceptibility of individuals currently suffering or recovered from COVID-19 to Alzheimer’s disease or in the susceptibility of individuals at risk of or with Alzheimer’s disease to COVID-19 or increased COVID-19 severity and mortality. Furthermore, the present review also draws attention to other uninvestigated early- and late-onset Alzheimer’s disease genes to elucidate the relationship between this multifactorial disease and COVID-19.