Vaccines got a bad rap during the pandemic but they are life saving innovations and we’re likely to see more of them in the years to come as researchers figure out ways to create new ones for all kinds of things. In fact, we could soon have one to help us lower our bad cholesterol. A breakthrough that could help us avoid suffering heart attacks and strokes.
According to the University of New Mexico where the research took place:
A new vaccine developed by researchers at The University of New Mexico School of Medicine could be a game-changer, providing an inexpensive method to lower ‘bad’ LDL cholesterol, which creates dangerous plaques that can block blood vessels.
In a recent study published in NPJ Vaccines, a team led by Bryce Chackerian, PhD, Regents’ Professor in the Department of Molecular Genetics & Microbiology, reported the vaccines lowered LDL cholesterol almost as effectively as an expensive class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors.
‘We are interested in trying to develop another approach that would be less expensive and more broadly applicable, not just in the United States, but also in places that don’t have the resources to afford these very, very expensive therapies,’ Chackerian said.
For a condition with such a profound global impact, one would think treatments for high cholesterol levels would be more accessible and affordable. Abinash Achrekar, MD, MPH, learned firsthand that is not the case.
Achrekar, a cardiologist, is the vice chair and professor In the UNM Department of Internal Medicine. Not only has he treated countless patients with high cholesterol, he is a patient himself.
‘I’m a cardiologist, and I have high cholesterol,’ he said. ‘I was actually diagnosed when I was a young man about the age of 16.’
Since then, Achrekar said he has used different treatments, like statins – which close to 200 million people use worldwide – and the PCSK9 monoclonal shot. This is a newer medicine that targets the PCSK9 protein; a molecule made in the liver that circulates through the bloodstream and negatively regulates the metabolism of LDL cholesterol.
Basically, the more PCSK9 your body makes, the higher your LDL cholesterol will be. Achrekar said the twice-monthly injections to block that protein reduce his bad cholesterol by about 60%, but they are expensive and require prior authorization from a primary care doctor or cardiologist.
‘They do take some time processing with the insurance companies, but they’re life-saving,’ he said. ‘These medicines have been shown not only to lower cholesterol, but to reduce the chances of heart attack, stroke and dying.’
Chackerian and his colleagues wanted all patients who face that risk to have a treatment option. So, using vaccine platform technology he developed at UNM, Chackerian partnered with researchers across the U.S. to create a new vaccine that specifically targets PCSK9.
‘The vaccine is based on a non-infectious virus particle,’ he explained. ‘It is just the shell of a virus, and it turns out that we can use that shell of a virus to develop vaccines against all sorts of different things.'”
Based on my eating habits I’m at risk of having high cholesterol and suffering heart attacks and strokes when I get older. So this is one vaccine that I won’t hesitate to take if offered the opportunity.
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