The Australian Government Research Fund has awarded $1.7 million (US$1.1 million) to target three major cardiovascular diseases using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, helping to advance disease beyond COVID-19. Accelerating the use of gene therapy.
The Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, one of Australia’s oldest medical research institutions focused on heart disease, has welcomed a grant from the Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).
“We are grateful to the MRFF for providing funding to advance this important research,” Xiaowei Wang, director of molecular imaging and theranostics at the Baker Institute, said in a Sept. 28 statement. says.
Associate Professor Wang said mRNA-based therapy directly reduces inflammation and blockage in three major heart diseases: atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension and abdominal aortic aneurysm.
“For each of these cardiovascular diseases, we design a unique delivery system using novel nanoparticles to target the disease and trigger the release of mRNA,” said Wang.
She says these treatments are more targeted, so lower doses are needed.
“Current drug therapies do not deliver specifically to disease areas and have adverse systemic side effects, requiring high doses,” said Wang.
“The mRNA-based targeting strategy we are investigating can halt the progression of inflammation, offering an opportunity to prevent cardiovascular disease events such as heart attack, stroke and heart failure without unwanted side effects. “
Nanoparticles can weaken immunity
With the rapid development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19, mRNA companies are looking to develop therapeutics against other targets such as heart disease, cancer, liver disease and multiple sclerosis.
However, an increased incidence of diseases, including cancer, has been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following COVID-19 vaccination. many mRNA vaccine.
The VAERS database reported 284 cases of breast cancer after COVID-19 vaccination, but only 350 cases were reported in the history of VAERS.
There are also reports of herpes zoster. VAERS data show that 7,559 cases of shingles were reported after vaccination with COVID-19.
In the entire history of VAERS, 28,180 cases of herpes zoster have been reported after vaccination. That means about a quarter of shingles cases occurred after his COVID-19 vaccination.
A recent preliminary study observed that nanoparticles used to transport mRNA in the COVID-19 vaccine inhibit and alter immune responses, shedding light on adverse events.
Nanoparticles claimed to be non-toxic and safe were also discovered in 2021. Research at the University of Philadelphia be highly inflammatory.
In Australia, the 5th dose was given Recommended For those with severe immunocompromised or underlying medical conditions or disabilities.