What this means
In a large trial, aspirin seemed to lower dementia risk in people with one genetic pattern. It also raised major bleeding, and the authors say these results need checking.
Plain-English summary written by an AI model from the abstract. The original is below.
- Who it was tested in
- 13,541 older adults in the ASPREE trial
- Kind of research
- A clinical trial in people
The science
- Original title
- Platelet count polygenic scores may modify the effect of aspirin in primary prevention of dementia.
- Authors
- Fransquet PD, Yu C, Tran C et al.
- Journal
- Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association
- Published
- Sep 24, 2026
- Study type
- Clinical trial · in humans
- PMID
- 42781890 ↗
Abstract
Background
Aspirin is not recommended for dementia prevention due to limited benefit. We investigated whether genetic subgroups may benefit.
What they did
In the ASPirin in Reducing Events in the Elderly (ASPREE) trial (n = 13,541), we screened 5182 polygenic risk scores (PGSs) for aspirin interactions on dementia and major bleeding. After quality control, 1848 PGSs were analyzed using Cox models for aspirin×PGS interaction, adjusted for age, sex, apolipoprotein Estatus, and ancestry. Interactions were Bonferroni-corrected and examined by quintiles.
What they found
Platelet-related PGS accounted for 18/112 nominally significant interactions (enrichment_OR = 54.7, p = 3.1 × 10- 1 8). Three highly correlated platelet-count PGSs passed multiple testing. For participants in the highest quintile of the platelet-count PGS003548, aspirin allocation was associated with a 3.5-fold reduction in incident dementia versus placebo (hazard ratio [HR]: 0.28, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.15 to 0.52). Major bleeding was also increased (HR: 2.13, 95% CI: 1.36 to 3.34). Similar interactions were observed using the highest PGS003548 tertile, decile, and 5%. Platelet count-related genetic variation may modify aspirin effects on dementia. These hypothesis-generating findings require validation.
The authors' abstract, grouped under plain headings from its own section labels.
Fransquet PD, Yu C, Tran C et al. Platelet count polygenic scores may modify the effect of aspirin in primary prevention of dementia. Alzheimer's & dementia : the journal of the Alzheimer's Association. 2026. doi:10.1002/alz.71817. PMID: 42781890. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42781890/
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