Vaccine Sought to Prevent Heart Attacks

US and Scottish researchers have isolated a key step in the mechanism that leads to vascular plaque buildup and blood clot formation in a quest to develop a vaccine against heart attacks and strokes. Their proof-of-concept study was reported in the May 2001 issue of Arteriosclerosis.

In an investigation seeking to discover the processes that contribute to atherosclerosis and to engage the immune system in interrupting them, the researchers found an immune response that occurs within oxygen-damaged particles of low-density lipoproteins (LDL), which is associated with a high risk of developing arterial plaque. Components of LDL called apoB-100 peptide sequences can be reproduced for the possible development of a vaccine.

By injecting apoB peptides in mice genetically predisposed to quickly develop atherosclerosis, the researchers were able to trigger a protective immune response, significantly increasing the level of immunoglobulin gamma G (IgG). The immunization resulted in about a 60% reduction of atherosclerosis in the treated mice, compared with controls.

"Our goal is to develop a vaccine that will one day be administered in childhood to interrupt the inflammatory process and save lives from heart attacks and strokes,” said Prediman K. Shah, M.D., director of the division of cardiology and the Atherosclerosis Research Center at Cedars Sinai Medical Center (Los Angeles, CA, USA). The research was conducted by Dr. Shah and colleagues at Cedars Sinai and at Malmo University in Sweden.