All people need some cholesterol, but having too high
cholesterol levels can be dangerous, particularly to areas of cardiovascular
health.
Research is ongoing to find new ways to help people
keep cholesterol within a healthy range.
Data from a recent study on animals found a vaccine
that may be effective at lowering cholesterol.
Future research is required before this data can be
applied in clinical practice with humans.
Cholesterol levels outside
a healthy range can be dangerous for heart health, but what options exist for
lowering cholesterol?
Most often, people can manage cholesterol levels by
changing components of their lifestyle or taking certain medications. However,
the options for assistance with cholesterol management may be expanding.
A study published in npj vaccines.
The study looked at mouse
and nonhuman primate models, and found that a bivalent vaccine effectively
lowered cholesterol levels.
The results point to
promising research and the potential development of another way to help people
keep cholesterol in a healthy range.
Study author Dr. Bryce Chackerian , Regent’s professor of
molecular genetics and microbiology at the University of New Mexico School of
Medicine, explained the reasoning behind the research to Medical News
Today. “The common medications to
treat elevated cholesterol are statins,” he told us. “However, statins don’t work
for everyone, and some patients on statins experience side effects.” “Recently, a new class of
medication, called PCSK9 inhibitors, have been approved to lower cholesterol.
PCSK9 inhibitors are very effective at lowering cholesterol, but unfortunately
they are also very expensive, which has limited their use. We were interested
in developing a lower-cost vaccine-based approach for inhibiting PCSK9. The
idea behind this approach is that the vaccine induces antibodies against PCSK9,
which then lower cholesterol levels.”– Dr. Bryce Chackerian The protein PCSK9 helps
inhibit this process, thus leading to higher levels of LDL cholesterol in the
bloodstream. There are a few ways to inhibit PCSK9 — one potential way is
through a vaccine. The study explored the
efficacy of these potential vaccines in monkeys and mice. The researchers
looked at the effectiveness of two PCSK9 vaccines: single and bivalent. They found that single and
bivalent vaccines lowered cholesterol levels among mice. However, the single
vaccine type did not lower LDL cholesterol to a statistically significant
level. Among monkeys, researchers
were able to carefully measure cholesterol levels over time to help test
vaccine efficacy. They also tested how the vaccines worked in combination with
statins. They found that the
bivalent vaccine was effective in lowering LDL cholesterol. However, the single
vaccine was not effective on its own and had to be combined with statins to be
effective. Dr. Chackerian, Ph.D.
explained: “In our study, we identified a vaccine that dramatically lowers
cholesterol in two different animal species. In monkeys, for example,
vaccination led to a 30% reduction in LDL cholesterol levels, without requiring
statins. Importantly, the vaccine also had long-lasting effects on cholesterol
levels, meaning that it is likely that patients would not need frequent
injections.” Is this
anti-cholesterol vaccination regime likely to be effective in humans? First of
all, the researchers note that their study focused on animals, so more research
is required before doctors could use the vaccine in clinical practice with
human patients. The researchers also noted
that the average baseline of LDL cholesterol in the monkeys was normal, which
might have limited how much LDL was lowered. It is also not entirely
clear why the bivalent vaccine was more effective in the monkeys, so this is
another area for researchers to explore. The research also included
a small number of monkeys, meaning future studies could include larger sample
groups. More research is needed to determine the vaccine’s long-term
effectiveness and the potential need for boosters. Furthermore, the study
authors note that the experimental vaccine in their study was less effective
than other cholesterol-lowering methods. Nevertheless, they point out that even
lowering cholesterol by a small amount can play a crucial role in decreasing
cardiovascular events. Dr. Richard Wright , a
board-certified cardiologist at Providence Saint John’s Health Center in Santa
Monica, CA, who was not involved in the current research, commented on the
findings, offering the following words of caution: “Unfortunately, there are
insufficient data to show how long, or even if, this type of vaccine would lower
the LDL in humans. The larger issue is the magnitude of benefit: no vaccination
has been shown to be as effective as current therapies, and in this current
study, the magnitude of LDL reduction is less than what is achievable with
current inexpensive statin drugs and far less than obtained with administration
of exogenous monoclonal antibodies or RNA therapeutics.” Still, if research moves
forward in this area, it could be highly beneficial for individuals at a higher
risk for problems from high cholesterol. And it could be potentially used in
combination with other therapies. Dr. Cheng-Han Chen , board-certified
interventional cardiologist and medical director of the Structural Heart
Program at MemorialCare Saddleback Medical Center in Laguna Hills, CA, also not
involed in the study, noted that “[t]he potential clinical benefit of such a
vaccine would be tremendous.” “Current PCSK9 inhibitors
in clinical use, while extremely efficacious, are very expensive. In addition,
these therapeutics require routine administration. A vaccine-based targeting of
PCSK9 could potentially provide long-lasting lowering of LDL levels with a
longer duration of effect. This would lower health care costs for the system
while improving cardiovascular outcomes,” he added Free cholesterol-lowering tips — all medically
reviewed Get our
cholesterol micro-lessons to support you in making lasting lifestyle changes to
manage your cholesterol levels. Our experts have gathered cholesterol-lowering
tips into free weekly 5-min lessons. There is also cholesterol
in certain foods. The two main types of cholesterol are LDL cholesterol and
high-density lipoproteins (HDL) cholesterol. LDL cholesterol. is
sometimes called “bad” cholesterol because when levels of it in the body get
too high, it can increase the risk of heart attack and stroke. Certain lifestyle
choices. can increase the risk of high
cholesterol, such as eating a diet high in saturated fat, not exercising
regularly, and smoking. People can make lifestyle
and dietary changes to help lower their cholesterol levels. They can also take
medications like statins to help reduce cholesterol levels. But even with these
interventions, cholesterol can still be a challenge to keep in a healthy range.
This is why it is crucial that researchers continue to explore potential new
ways to manage cholesterol levels.
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