Vaccine May Prevent 'Bad' LDL Cholesterol

A new vaccine may help lower the amount of "bad" cholesterol--or low-density lipoproteins (LDL)--which researchers believe could one day provide an alternative to statins.

When testing the vaccine in mice, they found it reduced LDL cholesterol levels, and when testing it in a small group of macaques, along with statins, they also noted a significant decrease in cholesterol.

"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, in a news release.

As it stands, an estimated 73.5 million adults in the United States suffer from high LDL cholesterol. Though diet and exercise are key to keeping high cholesterol at bay, many also take statins to lower it. Unfortunately, these come with some potentially serious side effects, including pain, increased risk of diabetes and cognitive loss.

The new vaccine zeroes in on a protein known as PCSK9, which helps regulate cholesterol levels in the blood. This is essential as our cholesterol is carried to and from the cells via our lipoproteins; the difference between the good (high-density lipoproteins) and the bad, according to the American Heart Association, is that the bad causes plaques to build up in our blood vessels and clog our arteries while the good cholesterol helps remove them.

The protein works by "encouraging the body to break down receptors that cholesterol binds to when it's flushed out of the body," the researchers say. 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.

Right now, several drug companies are developing high cholesterol treatments that target PCSK9, such as Alirocumab and Evolocumab. Both of which have recently been approved by the FDA and with positive results are incredibly expensive at $10,000 per year, using monoclonal antibodies.

The new vaccine appears to be even more effective than the monoclonal antibody-based treatments, and is much less expensive, researchers say.

The study is provided courtesy of Elsevier.

Related Articles

Statins Will Most Likely Not Result In Memory Loss

Metabolic Disease Risk Increases With Just A Little Junk Food

For more great science stories and general news, please visit our sister site, Headlines and Global News (HNGN).