New 'Miracle' Vaccine Reduces Cholesterol Better Than Statins

The team of researchers, who created the HPV vaccine, are back again, this time with a new cholesterol-lowering vaccine. The researchers believe that their vaccine is more powerful than any other alternatives in the market and can eliminate the need for daily statins.

The vaccine, invented collaboratively by researchers at the National Institute of Health in the U.S. and the University of New Mexico, also help reduce the level of "bad" LDL in blood. The wonder vaccine is likely to be cheaper than the daily statin pills.

Cholesterol is produced by the human body to make hormones, vitamin D and molecules that aid in digestion. However, excess of it chokes the arteries, resulting in heart diseases and stroke.

Due to its role in the human body, a protein called PCSK9 stops the body from getting rid of excess cholesterol. The new vaccine works by eliminating the protein, so that excess cholesterol is removed from the body automatically.

A single dose of new vaccine successfully reduced cholesterol levels in macaques and mice, and the researchers are hopeful that the same vaccine could be used for effective treatment in humans as well.

"Statins are still the most commonly prescribed medications for cholesterol. Although they are effective in many people, do have side effects and don't work for everyone," said Dr. Alan Remaley, of the National Institutes of Health, in a press release. "The results of our vaccine were very striking, and suggest it could be a powerful new treatment for high cholesterol."

The complete details of the study have been published in the journal Vaccine.