New vaccine to reduce bad cholesterol? Here’s what a new study says
A new vaccine may help lower LDL levels, according to a recent study. Read on to learn more about the study’s findings.
Researchers have developed a new vaccine that could be a gamechanger as it offers a cheap method of lowering ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, which causes dangerous plaques that can block blood vessels. High cholesterol contributes to a higher risk of cardiovascular diseases, such as heart disease and stroke. According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases claim nearly 18 million lives worldwide every year.
The new vaccines, described in an article published in the journal npj Vaccines, lowered LDL cholesterol almost as effectively as an expensive class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors.
“We’re interested in developing a different approach that would be less expensive and more broadly applicable, not just in the US, but also in places that don’t have the resources to afford these very, very expensive therapies,” said Bryce Chackerian . , Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, University of New Mexico (UNM).
The monoclonal PCSK9 shot targets the PCSK9 protein. In short, the more PCSK9 the body produces, the higher the LDL cholesterol will be.
Cardiologist Abinash Achrekar, vice chairman and professor in UNM’s Department of Internal Medicine, said the bimonthly injections to block that protein lower his bad cholesterol by about 60 percent, but they are expensive and require prior approval from a primary care physician or cardiologist require. .
To make it more affordable, the team created a new vaccine that specifically targets PCSK9.
“The vaccine is based on a non-infectious virus particle,” Chackerian explains. “It’s just the shell of a virus, and it turns out we can use that shell of a virus to develop vaccines against all kinds of different things.”
In this case, Chackerian said he stuck small pieces of the PCSK9 protein onto the surface of these virus particles.
“So your immune system makes a very strong antibody response against this protein that is involved in controlling cholesterol levels,” he said.
“In the animals we have vaccinated, we see a sharp drop in cholesterol levels – up to 30 percent – and that will be correlated with a reduced risk of heart disease.”
Over the past ten years, the vaccine has been tested on mice and monkeys with promising results. Chackerian said the next step is finding funding for vaccine production and human clinical trials. That process may take years and several million dollars, but it is worth it to develop a vaccine that is pure, safe and affordable.
He estimates that his vaccine could be cheaper than $100 per dose because it is made with a simple and relatively cheap bacteria.
“We are thinking tens of dollars per dose,” he said, and each dose would remain effective for almost a year.
“We hope to have a vaccine in humans within the next 10 years,” he said.