New Vaccine Could Lower ‘Bad’ Cholesterol by as Much as 30 Percent

A new vaccine currently in development can effectively and affordably lower levels of “bad’ cholesterol in the body, a health problem that affects almost two in five adults in the U.S. In tests on mice and monkeys, a team of researchers from the University of New Mexico and the University of California, Davis, were able to reduce low-density lipoprotein (LDL) levels by up to 30 percent by targeting a protein called proprotein convertase subtilisin/kexin type 9 (PCSK9), known to have an important relationship to LDLs. LDL, also known as “bad” cholesterol, is the type of cholesterol that can cause dangerous blockages in the arteries, reducing oxygen flow to the heart or causing blood clots that can lead to a stroke.

“The vaccine is based on a non-infectious virus particle,” says molecular geneticist Bryce Chackerian, PhD, from the University of New Mexico. “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.”

Currently, PCSK9 inhibitors are effective in reducing LDL; however, the vaccine is a solution that could potentially cost much less. Already a decade in development, the next stage for the vaccine is trials in humans, although that will require further study and further financing — all of which will be worth it if it reduces the close to 18 million lives lost globally every year to cardiovascular disease.

“We hope to have a vaccine in people in the next 10 years,” says Dr. Chackerian.