Has a cause been found for the side effect among men following the corona vaccine?

The mRNA vaccines against corona virus saved the lives of hundreds of millions of people during the global pandemic. top speed In which they were developed and distributed to billions of people around the world not only saved many lives, but also allowed the countries of the world to return to normal much faster than expected. Although these vaccines are safe Very useful, they have some rare side effects that can be dangerous if not treated immediately. one of them which was discovered for the first time in Israelis the development of inflammation of the heart muscle (myocarditis), mainly in young men. Research laboratories at Stanford University in the United States found out Now what probably causes myocarditis following the vaccine, and we offer preventive treatment for this side effect.

dictation Originally published on the Davidson Institute for Science Education website

Myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle that manifests itself in chest pain, shortness of breath and a feeling of strong heartbeats. It is accompanied by an increase in the levels of a protein called troponin in the blood and changes in the heart rate, and can be diagnosed with an EKG, MRI, echocardiogram (ultrasound) or heart biopsy. Its incidence in recipients of mRNA vaccines against corona is about seven cases per million doses (0.0007 percent) after one vaccine dose and about thirty cases per million doses (0.003 percent) after receiving a second vaccine dose. The side effect is mostly common in teenagers and young men under the age of 30 (80-95 percent of cases), and it erupts within three days of receiving the vaccine.

myocarditis Harms corona patients Much more than in the tanks. Also the corona patients more vulnerable Also for other heart diseases, which are not at all related to the vaccine. In most cases, the myocarditis that develops as a result of the vaccine is a mild disease that goes away on its own and requires only a short hospitalization for observation. In contrast, untreated severe inflammation can cause heart rhythm disturbances, accumulation of fluid around the heart, heart failure and death.

Until now, it was not known what causes this side effect, and therefore it was not possible to predict or prevent it. To identify the cause, the research groups of Mastaka Nishiga (Nishiga) and Joseph Wu (Stanford University) in the United States examined the data of two studies – one that collected blood tests are vaccinated and another which comparedthe Blood tests of vaccinees without side effects for those of vaccinees who suffered from myocarditis. They discovered that in both studies, during the three days after the vaccination, high levels of some cytokines – proteins used for communication between the cells of the immune system – were found in the subjects. In particular, the fact that the levels of the cytokines CXCL10 and interferon gamma increased significantly on the first day after vaccination, and especially after the second vaccine dose, and that the increase was sharper in vaccinees who suffered from myocarditis. Therefore, the suspicion arose that these two cytokines are involved in the development of inflammation in the heart or are responsible for it.

In order to test if this is indeed the case, the researchers exposed mice to extremely high doses of the vaccine and found that, as a result, they had a significant increase in the levels of troponin in the blood, a protein that, as mentioned, indicates inflammation of the heart. The increase was especially noticeable after the second dose. However, when we gave the mice a treatment that neutralized these cytokines, no increase in troponin was observed, meaning that no inflammation of the heart muscle was caused. The normal immune response against the corona occurred in all mice. Additional experiments done on mice and cultures of heart muscle cells strengthened the belief that there is a connection between these two cytokines and myocarditis or heart damage.

Since the side effect occurs mainly in young men, the researchers tested whether the female hormone estradiol, which is a type of estrogen, can prevent myocarditis after the vaccine. in a previous study The researchers found that genistein, another plant-derived estrogen, prevents an inflammatory reaction in muscle cells, and to a lesser extent this is also true for estradiol.

In the current experiment, they gave male mice drops of genistein for a week, after which they injected them with the cytokines and checked the inflammatory response in the heart a few hours later. Exposure to the female hormone was manifested in a 30 percent decrease in troponin levels in the mice’s blood, and an even sharper decrease in the inflammatory response in the heart muscle. Some other indices even remained at the normal level, as in mice that were not injected with cytokines.

Finally, the researchers tested whether genistein also protects against myocarditis resulting from the vaccine, and their findings were similar to those of the previous experiment. In addition, the hormone did not interfere with the creation of antibodies against the corona virus.

The study, therefore, confirms that the rare side effect of inflammation in the heart muscle of young men following the corona vaccine, is due to an increase in the level of two cytokines. It also shows that genistein treatment stops the inflammatory process. However, it is still not clear what are the molecular mechanisms that cause an increase in cytokines following vaccination or a decrease in them following treatment. The researchers suggest giving boys and young men genistein before giving a second dose of mRNA vaccine, but for this, clinical trials need to be conducted to test the effectiveness of the treatment. In this way, it may be possible to further reduce the risk – which is low to begin with – of an inflammatory complication in the heart following the mRNA vaccines.