Hopes for new vaccine which lowers cholesterol

Yearly jab could help prevent heart attacks

A vaccine jab that prevents heart attacks could be on the cards after promising early research showing how the immune system can be directed to lower cholesterol.

Patients have already been enrolled into a Phase I trial to see if the approach, so far tested on mice, will work in humans.

In future, a cholesterol-lowering vaccine could theoretically provide a more effective and reliable alternative to statin drugs, the research suggests

The vaccine, known as AT04A, triggers the production of antibodies that target an enzyme involved in regulating levels of blood cholesterol.

The enzyme, PCSK9, has been shown to impede the clearance of low-density lipoprotein – the “bad” form of cholesterol that is largely to blame for blocked arteries – from the blood.

In tests, mice fed an unhealthy Western-style fatty diet had their total blood cholesterol lowered by 53% by the vaccine.

Atherosclerotic damage, the build-up of hard fibrous deposits on the walls of arteries, was reduced by 64% and biological markers of blood vessel inflammation by up to 28% compared with unvaccinated mice.

The new results, published in the European Heart Journal, open up the prospect of a yearly vaccine jab to keep cholesterol under control in at-risk patients.

Researcher Dr Gunther Staffler, chief technology officer at the Austrian biotech company AFFiRis, which developed the vaccine, said: “AT04A was able to induce antibodies that specifically targeted the enzyme PCSK9 throughout the study period in the circulation of the treated mice.

“As a consequence, levels of cholesterol were reduced in a consistent and long-lasting way, resulting in a reduction of fatty deposits in the arteries and atherosclerotic damage, as well as reduced arterial wall inflammation.”

However, before the vaccine can be licensed, and rolled out to patients, larger scale trials focusing on effectiveness as well as safety will have to be carried out.