Vaccine inventor Martin Bachmann, of Cytos Biotechnology in Schlieren, Switzerland said, "We found the vaccine was well-tolerated, and it did lower blood pressure in hypertensive people."
The jab was tested on 72 patients with high blood pressure and it was found to work without serious side-effects. Current blood pressure medicines have side effects like drowsiness in the morning.
The patients' blood pressure was measured before the trial and 14 weeks after the trial began. It was found that patients who received the higher dose of vaccine had a drop in their systolic blood pressure of 9 mm Hg and a 4 mm Hg drop in their diastolic blood pressure.
The blood pressure drop was particularly significant in the early morning, where patients showed a 25 mm Hg drop in systolic blood pressure and a 13 mm Hg drop in diastolic blood pressure, compared with patients receiving a placebo.
Overall, the vaccine was well tolerated, with only 10 patients reporting flu-like symptoms after the injection. However, scientists say though the findings were promising but large-scale trials were now needed.
Only about one-third of Americans with high blood pressure have their blood pressure under control as many of them don't take their blood pressure medications because of side effects.
Scientists are hoping that immunization may be of particular benefit to people who find it difficult to stick to high blood pressure medication. The study results are published in the March 8 issue of The Lancet.
