According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), nearly two in five American adults have high cholesterol. Untreated high cholesterol can lead to heart disease and stroke, which are the top two causes of death in the United States and worldwide, and according to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular disease kills nearly 18 million people each year. Lives are being taken away.
A new vaccine developed by researchers at the University of New Mexico School of Medicine could be a game-changer by offering a low-cost way to lower “bad” LDL cholesterol, which produces dangerous plaque that blocks blood vessels.
In a recent study published in NPJ vaccineA team led by Dr. Bryce Chakkarian, a professor in Regents’ Department of Molecular Genetics and Microbiology, reported that the vaccine lowered LDL cholesterol about as effectively as an expensive class of drugs known as PCSK9 inhibitors.
“We’re interested in developing alternative approaches that are cheaper and more widely applicable, not only in the United States but also in places that can’t afford these very expensive treatments,” Chakkarian said. said. .
For a disease with such profound global impact, one would think that treatment for high cholesterol levels would be more accessible and affordable. Avinash Ashrekar, MD, MPH has learned firsthand that this is not the case.
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Ashrekar, a cardiologist, is associate director and professor of internal medicine at UNM. Not only has he treated countless high cholesterol patients, he is also a patient himself.
“I’m a cardiologist, and I have high cholesterol,” he said. “I was actually diagnosed when I was young, about 16 years old.”
Since then, Ashrekar said he has used a variety of treatments, including statins and the PCSK9 monoclonal shot, which are used by nearly 200 million people worldwide. This is a new drug that targets the PCSK9 protein. A molecule made in the liver that circulates in the bloodstream and negatively regulates the metabolism of LDL cholesterol.
Basically, the more PCSK9 your body produces, the higher your LDL cholesterol. Twice-monthly injections to block the protein reduce bad cholesterol by about 60%, Ashrekar said, but are expensive and require prior approval from a primary care physician or cardiologist.
“It takes some time to process with your insurance company, but these are life-saving drugs. These drugs have been shown to not only lower cholesterol, but also reduce your chances of heart attack, stroke, and death. ” he said.
Chakkaryan and his colleagues wanted all patients facing that risk to have treatment options. So Chakkaryan partnered with researchers across the country to develop a new vaccine, using his UNM-developed vaccine platform technology. vaccine It specifically targets PCSK9.
“The vaccine is based on non-infectious virus particles,” he explained. “It’s just a shell of a virus, but it turns out we can use that shell to develop vaccines against all kinds of things. ”
In this case, they attached small pieces of the PCSK9 protein to the surface of these virus particles, Chakkarian said.
“So the immune system mounts a very strong antibody response against this protein, which is involved in controlling cholesterol levels,” he says. “We have seen significant reductions in cholesterol levels of up to 30% in vaccinated animals, which appears to correlate with a reduced risk of heart disease.”
Over the past decade, this vaccine has been tested in mice and monkeys with promising results. Chakkaryan said the next step is to find funding to manufacture the vaccine and move into human clinical trials. Although this process can take years and millions of dollars, it is worth developing a vaccine that is pure, safe, and affordable.
“Given the fact that so many people have high cholesterol levels, it is estimated that if everyone were to take one of these PCSK9 inhibitor therapies, the health care system would be overwhelmed,” Chakkarian said. Ta.
He estimates that the vaccine could cost less than $100 per dose because it is made with a simple and relatively inexpensive bacteria.
“We believe it will cost tens of dollars per dose,” he said, adding that each dose will last nearly a year. “This is a vaccine that we think has the potential to have a global impact. So it’s not just happening in the United States, it’s happening all over the world where heart disease is a significant problem.”
Chakkarian said his team continues to work hard to make that impact.
“We hope that a vaccine will be available to people within the next 10 years,” he said.
reference: Fowler A, Van Rompuy KKA, Sampson M et al. Virus-like particle-based bivalent PCSK9 vaccine reduces LDL cholesterol levels in nonhuman primates. npj vaccine. 2023;8(1):1-11. Doi: 10.1038/s41541-023-00743-6
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