Scientists at La Jolla Institute for Allergy and Immunology are one step closer to developing the world's first vaccine that will reduce immune-based inflammation in the arteries, leading to decreased plaque build-up.

Klaus Ley, M.D., a pioneer in vascular immunology, is leading the vaccine effort. In his latest finding, published recently in the journal Frontiers in Immunology, Ley used two mouse peptides, which he incorporated into testing the vaccine approach. In the study, vaccinated mice had about 40 percent less arterial plaque than mice that didn't receive the vaccine.

"The T-cell peptide-based vaccine could aid in preventing heart disease and stop or reduce disease progression. The vaccine could also target strokes which are a product of plaque buildup in arteries," said Harley Tse, Professor of Immunology and Microbiology in Wayne State University's School of Medicine.

You can read the paper by referring to the following reference online:

Kevin Tse, Ayelet Gonen, John Sidney, Hui Ouyang, Joseph L. Witztum, Alessandro Sette, Harley Tse, Klaus Ley. Atheroprotective Vaccination with MHC-II Restricted Peptides from ApoB-100. Frontiers in Immunology, 2013; 4 DOI: 10.3389/fimmu.2013.00493