Therapeutic Vaccines for Hypertension and Dyslipidemia

Abstract

SummaryVaccines are commonly used as a preventive medicine for infectious diseases worldwide, however, clinical trials on an amyloid beta vaccine for Alzheimer's disease represents a new concept in the fi eld of vaccinations. Several recent studies indicate the potential of therapeutic vaccines as well as classical vaccines as preventive medicines. A number of therapeutic vaccines for cancer have been developed as novel immunotherapies. Their targets are usually specifi c antigens in cancer cells, allowing activated cytotoxic T cells (CTLs) to attach and remove the antigen-presenting cancer cells. Recently, we and others have attempted to develop a therapeutic vaccine against hypertension. The vaccine target is angiotensin II (AngII), and induced anti-AngII antibodies could effi ciently ameliorate high blood pressure. However, because AngII is an endogenous hormone, we must avoid the induction of autoimmune diseases by administration of an AngII vaccine. Therefore, our system was used to design a therapeutic vaccine that elicits anti-AngII antibodies without CTL activation against AngII. Because the target antigen itself does not include T cell epitopes, the immunogenic molecule (ie, KLH) provides antigen that supports the activation of T cells. In particular, helper T cells may activate B cells that produce antibodies against our specifi c antigen. In this review, we will explain our concept of therapeutic vaccines based on our recent data. (Int Heart J 2014; 55: 96-100) Key words: Angiotensin II, Lipoprotein(a) V accines are commonly used worldwide to protect against infectious diseases, and clinical trials for amyloid beta vaccines against Alzheimer's disease, cancer and rheumatoid arthritis will usher in a new era in vaccination.1-6) We will pursue the development of a vaccine for patients with high blood pressure. The number of patients with hypertension increases each year, and several types of antihypertensive drugs are available for treatment. Antihypertensive drugs are effective with few side effects, however, patients often need to take two or three drugs at a time to control severe hypertension. Therefore, the increased medical costs associated with treating hypertension might become a fi scal and social problem that affects social security expenses. The ultimate goal of our study is to reduce medical costs through the clinical use of a therapeutic vaccine for hypertension.However, when considering clinical applications, the safety of therapeutic vaccines should be carefully examined. In the history of therapeutic vaccines, the amyloid beta vaccine effectively reduced amyloid plaques and restored memory function in several animal models of Alzheimer's disease. [3][4][5] Unfortunately, however, the clinical trial for this vaccine was halted because 6% of the participants developed aseptic meningoencephalitis, even though amyloid plaque reduction was observed.4,7) Postmortem examination of the brains of two patients who suffered from aseptic meningoencephalitis due to the vaccine revealed T lymphocyte i...

A Therapeutic Peptide Vaccine Against PCSK9

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Unbiased Identification of Immunogenic Staphylococcus aureus Leukotoxin B-Cell Epitopes

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A peptide vaccine targeting angiotensin II attenuates the cardiac dysfunction induced by myocardial infarction

“…Thus, antibodies against Ang II are not usually produced. For this reason, Ang II peptide was conjugated with the KLH of a carrier protein with both B-cell and T-cell epitopes2223. A previous study revealed that this conjugate, defined as the Ang II vaccine, induced the production of anti-Ang II antibodies, and led to a therapeutic effect in animal models of hypertension5.…”

“…Hence, the patient must take medicine every day. Additionally, the long-term treatment of the disease is costly223. These problems may lead to non-compliance3.…”