Vaccine can cut high blood pressue

The Guardian and other news source reported that a team of Swiss scientists has developed a vaccine that targets angiotensin II to reduce blood pressure significantly.

The findings, published in The Lancet, were based on a 14 week multicentre, double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled trial involving 72 patients with mild-to-moderate hypertension. The patients received randomly injections of either 100 μg or 300 μg of the vaccine or placebo.

The researchers found that systolic and diastolic blood pressure fell by 9mm and 4mm respectively in patients given 300 μg of the vaccine, especially in the morning, but no change in blood pressure in the placebo group. They said the findings were promising but large-scale trials were needed.

Source: "Effect of immunisation against angiotensin II with CYT006-AngQb on ambulatory blood pressure: a double-blind, randomised, placebo-controlled phase IIa study" The Lancet 2008; 371:821-827 Number 9615 ( full text via Athens)

HPV vaccine does not treat HPV

HPV (Human papillomavirus) is a very common virus, some types cause cervical cancer, some cause gential warts. There has been confusion about whether women who have been infected with HPV could benefit from vaccination.

A study of more than 2000 women who already have HPV infection in Costa Rica found that Cervarix, a cervical-cancer vaccines, did not clear the virus from the bodies of the HPV-infected women. The author suggested that the vaccine "should not be used for the purposes of treating prevalent infections" and shoud target young women prior to their sexual debut because the infection happens shortly after sexual initiation.

Read the free article "Effect of Human Papillomavirus 16/18 L1 Viruslike Particle Vaccine Among Young Women With Pre-existing Infection: A Randomized Trial" JAMA. 2007 (7) ;298:743-753. August 15.