Messenger RNA Technology Fast-Tracked for Treating for Heart Conditions

Australian government boosts mRNA-based heart disease treatment. Dan Race/Shutterstock

An Australian government research fund has granted $1.7 million (US$1.1 million) to target three major cardiovascular diseases using messenger RNA (mRNA) technology, accelerating the use of gene therapy’s treatment of diseases beyond COVID-19.

Baker Heart and Diabetes Institute, one of Australia’s oldest medical research organisations focused on heart disease, welcomed the grant from Medical Research Future Fund (MRFF).

“We are grateful to the MRFF for funding us to advance this important research,” Baker Institute’s head of molecular imaging and theranostics Xiaowei Wang said in a statement on Sep. 28.

Baker Institute team Supplied

Associate Prof. Wang said that the mRNA-based therapies will directly reduce inflammation and blockages for three major heart diseases—atherosclerosis, pulmonary hypertension, and abdominal aortic aneurysm—which currently have limited cures and all start with inflammation.

“For each of these cardiovascular diseases, we will design a unique delivery system using novel nanoparticles, target the disease, then trigger the release of the mRNA,” Wang said.

She says that these therapies require smaller doses because they are targeted.

“Current drug therapies require high doses because they are not delivered specifically to the disease area and have harmful systemic side effects,” Wang said.

“The mRNA-based targeted strategies that we are investigating can stop the progression of inflammation, providing the opportunities of preventing cardiovascular disease events like heart attack, stroke, and heart failure without the unwanted side effects.”

Nanoparticles May Weaken Immunity

The rapid development of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19 has made mRNA companies hopeful about developing therapies for other targets such as heart disease, cancer, liver disease, and multiple sclerosis.

However, an increased rate of diseases, including cancer, has been reported to the Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System (VAERS) following COVID-19 vaccinations, of which the majority have been mRNA vaccines.

In the VAERS database, 284 cases of breast cancer were reported after COVID-19 vaccination, while just 350 cases have been reported in the history of VAERS.

There have also been concerning reports of shingles. VAERS data shows that 7,559 cases of shingles have been reported following COVID-19 vaccination.

Over the entire history of VAERS, 28,180 cases of shingles have been reported following any vaccination, meaning that around a quarter of shingles cases occurred after COVID-19 vaccination.

A pre-study recently observed that nanoparticles used to transport mRNA in COVID-19 vaccines inhibited and altered the immune response, shedding light on the adverse events.

The nanoparticles, claimed to be non-toxic and safe, were also found in a 2021 University of Philadelphia study to be highly inflammatory.

In Australia, a fifth dose has been recommended for people who are severely immunocompromised or have an underlying medical condition or disability.