Previous work supported PILRA as the likely causal gene at the chr7q21 Alzheimer’s disease risk locus, suggesting a common missense variant (rs1859788, r2 = 0.3 with PILRA pQTLs) protects against Alzheimer’s disease via reduced inhibitory signaling in microglia and lower herpes simplex virus 1 infection during recurrence47. Here, PILRA is linked to Alzheimer disease.