17 ms·
“Inverse vaccine” shows potential to treat MS and other autoimmune diseases
- b3nji 3y agoNow, is this going to be "safe and effective", and kill and mame people, or actually work?
- rendleflag 3y agoI wonder if this could be used to address allergies as well.
- bawolff 3y agoIsn't this already how we address allergies?
- Riseed 3y agoAllergy shots include the small amounts of the allergen, given in such doses as to allow the immune system to build a tolerance to the allergen. [0][1] It reminds me of psychology's "exposure therapy". [2] In layman's terms, allergy shots teach the immune system to chill, whereas this "inverse vaccine" (as I understand it) deletes a substance from the immune system's memory. [0] https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/allergy-shots/about/pac-20392876 https://www.mayoclinic.org/tests-procedures/allergy-shots/ab... [1] https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/25194-allergy-shots https://my.clevelandclinic.org/health/treatments/25194-aller... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exposure_therapy
- rockinghigh 3y agoI think the commenter was referring to immunosuppressive therapy.
- refurb 3y agoYes, the approach in the article is very similar. The difference is that the antigen is tagged with molecules that heighten the recognition of the antigen as “self”. So same concept, just an improved approach.
- jjcon 3y agoIn less layman's terms from someone that is still a layman - isn't it less akin to exposure therapy and more that it modulates the immune response from one type to another (IgE to IgG4), the second response being less associated with the traditional symptoms of allergies but for which we are not entirely sure what the full impacts are? In other words the body still responds abnormally but with a different mechanism. Furthermore we aren't entirely sure why high levels of exposure shift the response from one IG to another?
- Riseed 3y agoOh! I honestly have no idea because that isn't something I noticed in my admittedly shallow research. But you've given me some great questions to ask my allergist next week. Thanks!
- manicennui 3y ago"A typical vaccine teaches the human immune system to recognize a virus or bacteria as an enemy that should be attacked. The new 'inverse vaccine' does just the opposite: it removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule. While such immune memory erasure would be unwanted for infectious diseases, it can stop autoimmune reactions like those seen in multiple sclerosis, type I diabetes, or rheumatoid arthritis, in which the immune system attacks a person’s healthy tissues."
- flangola7 3y ago>The new 'inverse vaccine' does just the opposite: it removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule. While such immune memory erasure would be unwanted for infectious diseases New bioweapon just dropped
- forgetfreeman 3y agoBecause creating a substance that when injected selectively turns off immune response to a single molecule is going to be way easier to administer, cheaper to manufacture, and more effective than say airborn anthrax spores...
- mjan22640 3y agoDid any person in the world send the container of the mandatory vaccine to a lab to find out what they were actually administered?
- forgetfreeman 3y agoWingnuts that think there's a vaccine conspiracy come from all walks of life, but they all share a complete lack of understanding of any aspect of the pharmaceutical industry. If that's the world you want to believe in I strongly encourage you to opt out of all forms of healthcare.
- flangola7 3y agoWhich vaccine are you referring to? Any distributed vaccine in the US has a rigorous chain of custody, if tampering is what you're worried about.
- thenerdhead 3y agoAnyone have context as to how the name came to be? When I think of inverse vaccine, I think of something that gives you a disease. This is suggestive of erasing memory instead. Super exciting work nonetheless.
- pazimzadeh 3y agoBecause immune tolerance is the opposite of immune protection, when it comes to the adaptive immune system, whose business is deciding what to do the next time it encounters an antigen (it's a memory response either way). But really what they found here should maybe be called an inverse vaccine adjuvant (the part of the vaccine which tells your immune system that the associated antigen is dangerous, and a protective response should be mounted to it)
- rockinghigh 3y agoVaccines activate the immune system. Inverse vaccine suppress it.
- tomohawk 3y ago> The new “inverse vaccine” does just the opposite: it removes the immune system’s memory of one molecule Very cool, but what would happen if that molecule was small pox?
- JonathonW 3y agoThe US and Europe haven't vaccinated for smallpox since the early '70s and routine vaccination wrapped up globally in the mid-'80s, so, for many... absolutely nothing.
- hinkley 3y agoI used to be amused when period pieces would show actresses (particularly European) in sleeveless attire with their smallpox vaccine scar, three feet tall in the closeup shots. Turns out smallpox vaccines are a lot older than I thought. They might have not looked exactly like that in Victorian England, but an iteration of it did already exist. Guess that's why they cover up tattoos but not smallpox scars.
- jiofj 3y agoI know many people in my country, Spain, who are 60+ and have smallpox vaccine scars.
- XorNot 3y agoWow. This is a big deal: autoimmune diseases are one of the hardest to treat. The same strategy presumably could be applied for something like Crohn's disease. And I guess at a long shot, might work if IBS has an autoimmune component.
- malfist 3y agoWonder if it could treat arthritis? It like another commenter said, allergies.
- abracadaniel 3y agoAnother article on this mentioned both as possible uses for this. They called out rheumatoid arthritis in particular. There's lots of diseases with autoimmune components, that this could be a game changer for. I'm cautiously optimistic.
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- mabbo 3y agoIf there's such an easy biological mechanism to indicate "this one is fine", then I'm surprised it isn't being exploited by infectious agents already. Imagine a virus that causes cells to also produce proteins that tell the immune system the virus is a friend.
- EwanG 3y agoI seem to recall that this is a known "side effect" of measles where it removes many immunities if you catch it.
- ccooffee 3y agoHere's a 2019 article, "Study suggests how measles depletes body’s immune memory"[0] which (despite the title) seems to quantify the percentage of antibody arsenal that is lost after a measles infection. Sadly, I haven't had luck finding resources to answer "by what mechanism does measles cause antibody memory to be lost?", but I've got a good thing to ponder for the weekend. Thanks. :) [0] https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/10/how-measles-wipes-out-the-bodys-immune-memory/ https://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2019/10/how-measles-w...
- pazimzadeh 3y agoAlso, HIV depletes your T cells
- ianlevesque 3y agoAnd SARS-CoV-2, unfortunately.
- ekianjo 3y ago?? 99.9% of people recover just fine and surely they still have their T cells
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- tcbawo 3y agoI hope this will be useful in treating food allergies. It also seems to be potentially scary to be attempting inverse vaccines while our understanding of the mechanics of immunity are so limited.
- db1234 3y agoLooks like the same team is already looking into treating food allergies with inverse vaccine https://foodallergyfund.org/research-1/2021/2/15/inverse-food-allergy-vaccines-through-targeted-antigen-delivery#:~:text=Researchers%20know%20that%20something%20called,they%20can%20tolerate%20their%20allergens.&text=The%202020%20Food%20Allergy%20Fund%20grant%20recipients%20Dr https://foodallergyfund.org/research-1/2021/2/15/inverse-foo....
- dkqmduems 3y ago[flagged]
- dhbradshaw 3y agoWow, if this is real and practical it could be huge! Right up there with sanitation, nutrition, antibiotics and vaccines.
- qvrjuec 3y agoI remember reading discussions about mRNA vaccines being created to sensitize against immune system molecules, like in the way that Dupixent is just a monoclonal antibody that works against certain interleukins. So many interesting things out there for people with autoimmune diseases!
- prvc 3y agoAnother application: erasing original antigenic sin.
- tasty_freeze 3y agoI can already hear keyboards clacking away of fiction authors writing books of intrigue about this technology coming to fruition. Russia weaponizes it by creating a virus that has been engineered to emit variations of this knock-out molecule, making the recipient able to get sick again from a host of common illnesses. All Russian citizens have been given immunity from this new virus before it is unleashed on the world. Within weeks, nobody is immune from measles, chicken pox, mumps, etc. A huge wave of sickness envelops the world, giving Russia the upper hand as the militia of all its enemies are desperately ill.
- onetokeoverthe 3y ago[dead]
- sputr 3y agoAs an owner of a rare "MS-like disease" aka MOGAD I cant wait. The point of this treatment is that if you know which protein is the trigger you can stop it. It's probably not a cure, but an even better alternative to the current treatments that all cause at least some side effects or are not entirely effective. I should note that I know of active phase 2 trials by other campanies for type 1 diabetes.
- consp 3y ago> I should note that I know of active phase 2 trials by other campanies for type 1 diabetes For those less informed and unfortunate owners of this malice, can you elaborate?
- sputr 3y agoYeah, sorry, was on my phone. I've been following this company: http://imcyse.com/pipeline#type-1-diabetes http://imcyse.com/pipeline#type-1-diabetes First, disclaimer, I'm a patient (MOGAD), not a medical professional. As far as phases goes, as far as I understand it, phase 1 is safety, phase 2 is initial trial for efficacy. Quote from the website about Type 1 diabetes: > In Type 1 diabetes (T1D), the insulin-producing beta cells in the pancreas are destroyed through an autoimmune attack. The loss of beta cells leads to insulin insufficiency and hyperglycemia, with patients eventually requiring lifelong insulin therapy to maintain normal glycemic control. ... >IMCY-0098, a synthetic peptide based on insulin (one of the proteins to which the body begins to mount an aberrant immune response) is designed to halt the progression of diabetes by stopping the body’s immune system from attacking beta cells. With early intervention, the pancreas’ ability to produce insulin may be preserved, enabling patients to manage the disease with minimal insulin injections and hopefully in some cases without the need for insulin at all. > In a Phase 1b study with 41 newly diagnosed patients, IMCY-0098, was found to be safe and well tolerated, with steady levels of C-peptides detected in some T1D patients up to 6 months following treatment, providing an encouraging signal for the Imotope™ platform. > IMCY-0098 is currently being investigated in a Phase 2 multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled, dose comparison study in patients with recent onset T1D. .... The study completed recruitment in March 2023 exceeding its recruitment target, with a total of 110 patients enrolled and randomized across 28 clinical sites in Europe, the United States and Australia. Efficacy proof-of-concept data from IMPACT is expected in Q1 2024.
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- jvdvegt 3y agoI can see how this works for slow autoimmune diseases mentioned in the article. But I suppose using it for fast autoimmune diseases is more difficult (thinking about Guillaume Barré Syndrome in particular, which can get you to an IC in 48 hours).
- dharma1 3y agoWhen anti-antivaccine demonstrations? In all seriousness, fantastic news. There is no cure for autoimmune diseases atm, although some promising research in disease modifying drugs like https://www.kennedy.ox.ac.uk/news/new-drug-offers-hope-for-people-with-hand-osteoarthritis https://www.kennedy.ox.ac.uk/news/new-drug-offers-hope-for-p... This sounds like a far more targeted approach that could work for most autoimmune diseases (maybe even allergies?)