Experimental vaccine could reduce risk of blood clots after stroke – ScienceDaily

People who have had a blood clot stroke (ischemic stroke) often need to take medicines that make their blood less likely to clot, helping to prevent another stroke.

Japanese researchers have successfully tested an experimental vaccine in mice and found that it provides protection against blood clots for more than two months without increasing the risk of bleeding or provoking an autoimmune response. The absence of autoimmune response is important because it means that the mouse immune system did not perceive the vaccine as an "intruder" that needed to be attacked, which would have caused a reaction to the vaccine.

The vaccine, S100A9, inhibited blood clot formation and, during the course of the study, prevented the arteries of treated mice from forming new clots for more than two months. Hironori Nakagami, MD, Ph.D., co-author of the study and professor at the University of Osaka, Japan.

By developing a vaccine to replace and / or supplement daily, oral medications could save many lives and help prevent secondary strokes and possibly heart attacks, according to Nakagami.

"Many stroke patients do not take their anticoagulant medications as prescribed, which makes them more likely to have another stroke.This vaccine could someday help solve this problem because it should only be injected periodically, "said Nakagami.

"We are continuing our research in the hope of being able to undertake clinical trials in five or ten years, but there are differences between mice and humans as to how the vaccine will be recognized by the immune system," he said. he declared. "We should be able to overcome these problems and believe that this vaccine is a very promising strategy in the secondary prevention of stroke."

Source of the story:

Material provided by American Heart Association. Note: Content can be changed for style and length.