COVID-19 vaccine technique tested for heart disease

Tuesday May 3rd 2022

The techniques perfected in COVID-19 vaccines could be used to help repair damaged heart muscle following a heart attack, European researchers have reported.

Delegates at the Frontiers in CardioVascular Biomedicine 2022 congress heard that an approach similar to an mRNA vaccine shows promise.

mNRAs use lipid nanoparticles to deliver mRNA to the body’s cells, which then instructs the cells to manufacture a dummy spike protein on their surface to mimic the protein on the virus causing COVID-19. The body creates antibodies that can be used if the individual becomes infected with the virus.

In this Dutch study, a similar method for mRNA delivery was used but instead of aiming for an immune response, the goal was to instruct the heart’s cells to repair themselves after a heart attack.

Preliminary research was carried out to determine if mRNA could be successfully delivered to the heart muscle in lipid nanoparticles.

The researchers injected different formulations into the left ventricular wall of mouse hearts during open chest surgery under general anaesthesia.

After 24 hours, the location of mRNA translation was examined and it was found that it had reached the heart cells 24 hours after injection. However, the highest levels of mRNA translation were found in cells of the liver and spleen.

Study author Dr Clara Labonia of the University Medical Centre Utrecht, the Netherlands said: “High expression was expected in the liver, since it metabolises the lipid nanoparticles. Nonetheless, it was encouraging to see that there was mRNA translation in the heart tissue which means that lipid nanoparticles could work as delivery systems for mRNA therapy.

“The next step of this research is to test more formulations and choose the one which most efficiently targets the heart tissue. We will then assess whether delivery of mRNA to mice with ischaemic hearts (resembling a heart attack) has any therapeutic effect.”

Tags: Europe | Heart Health | Pharmaceuticals

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