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PHOTO: pixabay
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Many people are skeptical of RNA vaccines because they want to know not only the active ingredients but also the excipients they contain. Can the so-called lipid nanoparticles dangerous for humans? Here are the facts gathered by Deutsche Welle:
RNA vaccines injected a lot of critical energy from the very beginning: they were not studied long enough and well, the possible risks were not known. Recently, however, a new charge has been filed against them, which is no longer related to their active ingredients. Doubts have been raised in the media about the excipients contained in RNA vaccines.
Among them are the so-called adjuvants, which improve the immune response by strengthening, accelerating or maintaining it. They help the real immunizing substance to reach its goal and cause the desired effect. RNA vaccines use lipid nanoparticles as adjuvants – that is, extremely small particles of fat.
Nanolipids envelop the true immunizing substance and help it to cross the cell membrane without being damaged.
Not for human use?
It is known that nanoparticles are used elsewhere to improve the quality of products – for example in the food industry, pharmaceuticals and cosmetics. Some scientists specializing in this field warn that the accumulation of too many nanoparticles in the human body can be dangerous.
In the case of nanolipids, another charge states that they should not be used in medicines. The label on their packaging is given as an argument, which usually reads “for research purposes only” or “not for human use”. But the explanation here is quite simple: companies that supply nanolipids do not trade with drug manufacturers, but with laboratories. Therefore, they have not certified their product for human use.
Danger of inflammation?
But nanolipids raise other doubts among some scientists. One research team found, for example, that injecting mice with nanolipids can lead to inflammation. However, the nanolipids used in this experiment are not identical to those contained in the RNA vaccines of Moderna and BioNTech, explains Gregor Furman, head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Biology at the renowned University of Erlangen-Nuremberg. “Besides, the results of experiments with mice do not mean that such an effect will have in humans,” he said.
And something else. Strange as it may sound at first glance, a local inflammation can actually be helpful. For decades, various vaccines have been enriched with substances that boost the immune response, but can also cause local inflammation. “Such local inflammation can help attract more immune cells, which will contribute to a better response to the vaccine,” explains Furman.
And another suspicion
With regard to nanolipids, there is another suspicion: that some of them may cross the blood-brain barrier, namely it protects the brain from the penetration of harmful substances contained in the blood. However, Gregor Furman argues that nanolipids used in RNA vaccines are unlikely to penetrate the nervous system.
On the other hand, SARS-Cov-2 viruses are definitely able to cross the blood-brain barrier. Due to this, they penetrate the human nervous system, so massively that they cause severe damage and long-term consequences. Exactly by what mechanism this penetration occurs – scientists still do not know.
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