For many people suffering from high blood pressure the long-term solution is daily pills and regular monitoring by your doctor with adjustments to your dosage or changes to your tablets as necessary. So how much better would it be if you were able to simply be vaccinated against high blood pressure and forget about your daily tablets?
Almost one in three Americans are suffering from high blood pressure but, as a result of the complex mix of tablets frequently necessary for treatment, only some one third of these people in fact have their blood pressure problem under control. Nevertheless, this might be about to change shortly.
In a trial conducted earlier this year (2007) a total of 72 people (65 men and 7 women with an average age of 51 years 6 months) suffering from mild or moderate high blood pressure were injected with a low dose (100 micrograms) vaccine, a high dose (300 micrograms) vaccine or a placebo. This injection was repeated a month later and at the end of twelve weeks.
Fourteen days after the final injection it was found that the individuals injected with the high dose vaccine were showing a fall in excess of 5 mm Hg in their higher systolic blood pressure and close to 3 mm Hg in their lower diastolic blood pressure reading.
More significant, it was also found that the characteristic, and occasionally dangerous, peek in pressure that occurs in the early morning between 5 am and 8 am was also lowered considerably by 25 mm Hg systolic and 13 mm Hg diastolic.
The trial patients all tolerated the vaccine well and no safety issues arose during the course of the trial.
So exactly how does the vaccine work?
At the moment high blood pressure is treated using a variety of drugs that are designed to act on the body in different ways. Two of the classes of drugs often used are angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (such as Lotensin, Prinivil, Accupril, Capoten, Aceon, Vasotec, Mavik, Altace and Zestril) and angiotensin-2 (AT-2) receptor blockers (such as Atacand, Cozaar, Micardis and Teveten). In both cases these drugs block the action of a hormone that causes the blood vessels to constrict and therefore to increase the pressure within the blood vessels.
The trial vaccine, which is known as CYT006-ANgQb, works in the same manner as these two existing drugs and so could certainly provide an alternative for those individuals whose high blood pressure is now treated using ACE inhibitors or AT-2 receptor blockers.
So what about those individuals whose high pressure is currently being treated using the alternatives of beta blockers (such as Sectral, Corgard, Betapace, Toprol XL, Cartol, Tenormin, Kerlone, Blocadren, Lopressor and Zebeta) or calcium channel blockers (such as Norvasc, Cardizem, Calan, Lotrel, Vascor, Adalat, Procardia, Nimotop, Sular, Plendil, Isoptin and Verelan)?
Of course, it is early days yet and additional trials will be required before we see a vaccine in general use for the control of high blood pressure. However, if the scientists are correct, it is likely that this vaccine will be effective for a lot of sufferers, regardless of the treatment presently being given.
Only time will tell, but this is undoubtedly a very encouraging development.
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