Chinese vaccine shows promise for heart attacks and strokes, but there’s a catch

Scientists in China have announced the discovery of a “cocktail” nanovaccine for heart diseases such as heart attacks and strokes. 

A report by a local news outlet on 9 March says the vaccine which is being tested on mice prevents plaque from building up in the arteries in a way that leads to serious heart conditions.

While the trial is still on mice, the vaccine shows promise for humans and no evidence of liver toxicity and doesn’t spread into organs such as the heart and lungs where it shouldn’t be.

How it works

The vaccine targets a condition known as atherosclerosis that causes a build-up of fatty substances, cholesterol and cellular waste in the arteries, which can lead to blood clots.

These clots can result in blocking of the blood vessels, leading to strokes or heart attacks, which are leading causes of death globally.

A team of researchers from Nanjing University of Science and Technology and the University of Science and Technology of China developed the vaccine by attaching either an antigen that triggers an immune response against atherosclerosis or an immune response booster onto tiny iron oxide nanoparticles.

They used the p210 antigen, which is one promising molecule that triggers the body’s immune response to prevent the progression of atherosclerosis.

After feeding mice with high cholesterol diets, they injected them with the vaccine and found that  the immune response triggered was able to reduce the development of atherosclerosis, but there’s a challenge.

Commenting, the team said:

“In studying the vaccinations against atherosclerosis, an ongoing challenge is deciphering the mechanism of action – a prerequisite for translation of a vaccination protocol to humans.”

While the vaccine shows much promise, the researchers say further studies are required to find out how long it works against atherosclerosis.

A trend of vaccines

There’s a recent trend of vaccines being produced in many countries for different sicknesses. In Russia, the country announced plans to roll out a cancer vaccine this year that is free for all citizens. 

Iran is also another country working on a cancer vaccine, and now China is pursuing one for heart diseases, which are all commendable ways to keep the world healthy.