So we are still going after the secondary issue in atherosclerosis, cholesterol, instead of finding out how to stop the inflammation in your arteries which is the real problem. I would be really concerned about reversing the effects of this.
http://www.alphagalileo.org/ViewItem.aspx?ItemId=158300&CultureCode=en
Vaccine is cheaper and appears to be more effective than alternative treatments
A new cholesterol-lowering vaccine leads to reductions in 'bad' LDL
cholesterol in mice and macaques, according to research published in
Vaccine. The authors of the study, from the University of New Mexico and
the National Institutes of health in the United States, say the vaccine
has the potential to be a more powerful treatment than statins alone.
The
body produces cholesterol to make vitamin D, some hormones and some of
the molecules that help us digest food. Cholesterol is also found in
foods. LDL cholesterol is a fat-like substance that circulates in the
blood; if there is too much cholesterol, the arteries can become
blocked, leading to heart disease and stroke.
According to the
CDC, 73.5 million adults in the United States have high LDL cholesterol.
Diet and exercise are key to keeping cholesterol down, but millions of
people worldwide take statins to lower their cholesterol. Statins have
some potentially serious side effects, such as muscle pain, an increased
risk of diabetes and cognitive loss.
The new vaccine could
provide an alternative to statins, by targeting a protein that controls
cholesterol levels in the blood. A single vaccine has been shown to
reduce cholesterol levels dramatically in mice and macaques, suggesting
it could be an effective treatment in humans.
"One of the most
exiting things about this new vaccine is it seems to be much more
effective than statins alone," said Dr. Bryce Chackerian, one of the
authors of the study from the University of New Mexico.
The new
vaccine targets a protein called PCSK9, which regulates the cholesterol
in the blood. The protein works by encouraging the body to break down
receptors that cholesterol binds to when it's flushed out of the body.
People who have a mutation in the protein often suffer from increased
risk of heart disease, and people who do not produce the protein have a
decreased risk. By targeting this protein, the vaccine can stop it from
functioning, lowering the amount of cholesterol in the blood.
The
researchers tested the vaccine in mice, which showed a reduced level of
LDL cholesterol. They then tested it in a small group of macaques,
along with statins, resulting in a dramatic decrease in cholesterol.
"Statins
are still the most commonly prescribed medication for cholesterol.
Although they are effective in many people, do have side effects and
don't work for everyone," said Dr. Alan Remaley, one of the authors of
the study from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute, National
Institutes of Health. "The results of our vaccine were very striking,
and suggest it could be a powerful new treatment for high cholesterol."
Several
drug companies have been developing high cholesterol treatments that
target PCSK9 - for example, Alirocumab and Evolocumab, which the FDA
recently approved. Results have been positive, but their treatments,
which use monoclonal antibodies, are prohibitively expensive; treatment
costs upwards of $10,000 per year.
The new vaccine appears to be
even more effective than these monoclonal antibody-based treatments, at a
fraction of the cost. The researchers now plan to expand their studies
in macaques and find commercial partners to move the technology forward.
Read more about the study on Elsevier Connect:
https://www.elsevier.com/connect/new-cholesterol-lowering-vaccine-could-help-tackle-heart-disease
Full bibliographic informationArticle details
"A
cholesterol-lowering VLP vaccine that targets PCSK9" by Erin Crossey,
Marcelo J..A. Amar, Maureen Sampson, Julianne Peabody, John T. Schiller,
Bryce Chackerian and Alan T. Remaley (doi:
10.1016/j.vaccine.2015.09.044). The article appears in Vaccine, Volume
33 (October 2015), published by Elsevier.
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