Research looks at inflammatory nature of lipid nanoparticle component in mRNA vaccines

Lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) are the carrier vehicles that protect messenger RNA (mRNA) molecules from degradation and aid intracellular delivery and endosomal escape in the nucleoside-modified mRNA-LNP vaccine platforms currently used by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). These two vaccines surpass the rest with their effective support for T follicular helper cells (Tfh) and the protective humoral responses observed in the preclinical trials.

While the vital role of LNPs in these vaccines' action is established, the potentially inflammatory nature of these LNPs is not assessed. Also, in the Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna vaccines' human trials, it is reported that side effects often linked to inflammation, such as pain, swelling, fever, and sleepiness, are common.

Because the vaccine was presumed to be non-inflammatory, these side-effects were taken to be generated from the potent immune response to the vaccine. Therefore, there is a need for a systemic approach to analyze the inflammatory properties of LNPs and understand their role in the vaccination process.

In a recent bioRxiv* preprint research paper, Botond Z. Igyártó and colleagues from Thomas Jefferson University demonstrated the inflammatory nature of the lipid nanoparticles (LNPs). Upon intradermal administration in mice, they observed massive neutrophil infiltration, activation of diverse inflammatory pathways, and production of various inflammatory cytokines and chemokines. They observed similar observations when the LNPs were delivered intranasally.

Notably, intranasal inoculation with the same dose (10 μg) of LNP (as in the intradermal delivery) caused a high mortality rate in mice – about 80% of the treated mice died in less than 24 hours. The researchers found that the LNPs' inflammatory properties are not site-specific. They observed a fast diffusion, dispersion, and distribution rate in the tissues, upon internal delivery.

"Thus, the inflammatory milieu induced by the LNPs could be partially responsible for reported side effects of mRNA-LNP-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines in humans, and are possibly contributory to their reported high potency for eliciting protective immunity."

The LNPs consist of a mixture of phospholipids, cholesterol, PEGylated lipids, and cationic or ionizable lipids. These improve structure, stability and support prolonged circulation. The cationic/ionizable lipids, complex with the negatively charged mRNA molecules and enable the exit of the mRNA from the endosome to the cytosol for translation.

It is reported that some LNPs containing ionizable/cationic lipids are highly inflammatory and possibly cytotoxic. A preclinical study showed adjuvant activity of mRNA complexed with LNPs. To avoid activation of innate inflammatory pathways, in the vaccine, the mRNA is nucleoside-modified.

In this study, the researchers noted that the inflammatory nature of the LNPs could explain their potent adjuvant activity and their superiority, compared to other adjuvants, in supporting the induction of adaptive immune responses.

Potential mechanism of side effects. The side effects observed with the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine’s first dose are likely associated with the LNPs’ inflammatory properties. LNPs activate different inflammatory pathways that will lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-6 that can initiate and sustain local and systemic inflammations and side effects. LNPs might also diffuse from the periphery and reach any organs in the body, including CNS (hypothalamus) where they could directly induce side effects (dashed line). PEG is widely used as a food and medicine additive, and many of us develop antibodies to PEG. Therefore, the LNPs’ PEGylated lipids can induce CARP in humans with preexisting PEG-specific antibodies. Humans often experience more severe side effects with the second dose. Here we posit that might be due to multiple reasons. Firstly, innate immune memory against the LNPs might form after the first vaccination, and that could lead to even more robust inflammatory responses upon the second vaccination. Secondly, after the first vaccination adaptive immune responses are formed targeting the viral protein coded by the mRNA. As such, cells (shown as red shape) expressing the viral protein derived peptides or protein itself can become the target of CD8+ T or NK cell-mediated killing (ADCC), respectively. Since the LNPs could diffuse throughout the body and transfect any cell in their path with the mRNA, and the mRNA could also be further distributed through extracellular vesicles (Maugeri et al., 2019), the target population could potentially be vast and diverse.
Potential mechanism of side effects. The side effects observed with the SARS-CoV-2 vaccine’s first dose are likely associated with the LNPs’ inflammatory properties. LNPs activate different inflammatory pathways that will lead to the production of inflammatory cytokines, such as IL-1β and IL-6 that can initiate and sustain local and systemic inflammations and side effects. LNPs might also diffuse from the periphery and reach any organs in the body, including CNS (hypothalamus) where they could directly induce side effects (dashed line). PEG is widely used as a food and medicine additive, and many of us develop antibodies to PEG. Therefore, the LNPs’ PEGylated lipids can induce CARP in humans with preexisting PEG-specific antibodies. Humans often experience more severe side effects with the second dose. Here we posit that might be due to multiple reasons. Firstly, innate immune memory against the LNPs might form after the first vaccination, and that could lead to even more robust inflammatory responses upon the second vaccination. Secondly, after the first vaccination adaptive immune responses are formed targeting the viral protein coded by the mRNA. As such, cells (shown as red shape) expressing the viral protein derived peptides or protein itself can become the target of CD8+ T or NK cell-mediated killing (ADCC), respectively. Since the LNPs could diffuse throughout the body and transfect any cell in their path with the mRNA, and the mRNA could also be further distributed through extracellular vesicles (Maugeri et al., 2019), the target population could potentially be vast and diverse.

This news article was a review of a preliminary scientific report that had not undergone peer-review at the time of publication. Since its initial publication, the scientific report has now been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in a Scientific Journal. Links to the preliminary and peer-reviewed reports are available in the Sources section at the bottom of this article. View Sources

As expected with the observed side-effects in humans after intramuscular vaccination with the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines the intradermal inoculation of LNPs in mice led to secretion of the pyrogens - IL-1β/IL-6 and macrophage inflammatory protein-α (CCL3) and macrophage inflammatory protein-β (CCL4).

The researchers conducted Gene Set Enrichment Analysis (GSEA) to understand the pathways involved in the inflammatory cascade with the proprietary LNPs administered. The observed activated TLR pathways, among others, and upregulated inflammasome components such as Nlrp3 and enrichment of genes involved in necroptosis. In concordance, flow cytometry data revealed significant inflammatory cell death (after inoculation with LNPs), such as necroptosis and pyroptosis.

"Overall, the robust inflammatory milieu induced by LNPs, combined with the presentation of the vaccine-derived peptides/protein outside of antigen-presenting cells, might cause tissue damage and exacerbate side effects."

The researchers raised a concern that the LNPs, as lipid particles that can diffuse quickly, could potentially gain access to the central nervous system (CNS) through the olfactory bulb or blood. However, this needs to be determined with further study. Also, the role of innate memory responses to LNPs needs to be studied.

In conclusion, the intradermal inoculation with LNPs induced robust inflammation in mice. Using different techniques, the researchers showed that the LNPs, alone or complexed with control non-coding poly-cytosine mRNA, are highly inflammatory in mice - likely through the engagement and activation of various distinct and convergent inflammatory pathways.

Importantly, this study showed that the intradermal or intranasal delivery in mice of LNPs used in preclinical studies triggers inflammation characterized by leukocytic infiltration, activation of different inflammatory pathways and secretion of a diverse pool of inflammatory cytokines and chemokines.

However, further studies will be needed to determine the exact nature of the inflammatory responses triggered by mRNA-LNP vaccines in humans and how much overlap there might be with the inflammatory signatures documented here for mice, the researchers write.

"However, it will be necessary to strike a balance between positive adjuvant and negative inflammatory properties as LNP-associated vaccines move forward."

This news article was a review of a preliminary scientific report that had not undergone peer-review at the time of publication. Since its initial publication, the scientific report has now been peer reviewed and accepted for publication in a Scientific Journal. Links to the preliminary and peer-reviewed reports are available in the Sources section at the bottom of this article. View Sources

Journal references:

Article Revisions

  • Apr 6 2023 - The preprint preliminary research paper that this article was based upon was accepted for publication in a peer-reviewed Scientific Journal. This article was edited accordingly to include a link to the final peer-reviewed paper, now shown in the sources section.
Dr. Ramya Dwivedi

Written by

Dr. Ramya Dwivedi

Ramya has a Ph.D. in Biotechnology from the National Chemical Laboratories (CSIR-NCL), in Pune. Her work consisted of functionalizing nanoparticles with different molecules of biological interest, studying the reaction system and establishing useful applications.

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Comments

  1. Meghan Mitchell Meghan Mitchell United States says:

    I received my 2nd dose of Moderna February 5th. Since then I experienced strange sweeling near my clavicle, pain in my neck, which is still present, swelling in my auxillary in same arm shot was given and pain in my shoulder. I have also consistently experienced extreme fatigue amd hot flushes every time I go to sleep. I am a 36 year old female with no known preexisting conditions, frontline worker. The fatigue is getting worse, to the point that I am having difficulty functioning properly for several hours a day. I am not sure what to do.

    • Carole Truelove Carole Truelove United States says:

      I am so very sorry Meghan
      It is nearly impossible to believe what is happening
      I have not heard of anyone coming forward with symptoms from the shot
      I hav a different reaction
      Mine is a nightly internal shaking as if my organs are irritated. It wakes me over and over with no relief. The only thing that gives me the slightest relief is if I take an anti inflammatory.  Which led me to discovering this article. I would hope to talk to someone about taking part in a study. This article hits the nail on the head for me.

  2. KC Lust KC Lust United States says:

    8 days post injection after my first vaccine, I had a horrible pain in my joints, back and other muscles. Couldn’t even get out of bed the second day of symptoms. Had a fever of up to 103° for at least 5 days. No infection found and no other reason was found for this fever.

    • Jenifer Sánchez Jenifer Sánchez United States says:

      hello i am having the same symptoms and no one can explain what is happening. i start to feel like this a week after my  first shot of  the pfizer vaccine. are you feeling better?

  3. Sarah Fudge Sarah Fudge Canada says:

    I am wondering if these LNP ever breakdown if they get into organs or the central nervous system. Are there chelating agents? I've been suffering for 6 weeks after the Moderna. Extreme fatigue and fogginess.

  4. Annette Cohen Annette Cohen United States says:

    I received the 2nd Pfizer shot on April 19, 2021.  Thirteen weeks (to the day) later I am still suffering from the many severe adverse reactions I got. It would take me an hour or more to even try to list them all here, and I don't have the patience to do that at the moment.

    To give readers some idea of what I have experienced, here’s an abbreviated account of my injuries:   I suffered severe cardiac, neurological, inflammatory and musculoskeletal sickness and injuries.  Most of them have subsided in intensity, (some were at 10 on the pain scale of 1 to 10!) but they *all* still plague me, and at this point I don't expect to ever recover my previous level of health.  

    I felt like I had a stroke (more likely it was several, or perhaps many, microstrokes), and I have very noticeable (and distressing!) short-term and long-term memory loss and significant cognitive dysfunction.  I still feel extremely spaced out (as though I'm stoned on marijuana, which I never use these days) most of the time.   I still have noticeable visual disturbances, (everything appears to shimmer, as though I've taken LSD, which I also do not use.)  (I did take 1/16 of a dose many years ago, so I know what it's like, and this vaccine-induced visual disturbance is exactly like what I experienced after taking the LSD microdose many years ago.) I still have marked pain, weakness, and swelling and dysfunction, as well as tingling and numbness, in my right (vaccinated) arm, wrist, and hand; I still have a persistent sore throat and sore and swollen neck glands (every day, all day long); I still have insomnia and severe back pain and stiffness.  My previous chronic fatigue / fibromyalgia has been dramatically worsened.  I have chronic severe shortness of breath which is very distressing and limits my ability to function in every way. I could go on with many more symptoms but that's enough for you to get the idea.  

    This experience has dramatically changed my life.  My whole purpose in life now is to let others know how dangerous these mRNA vaccines are and how many people have been severely injured and killed by them.  The VAERS (Vaccine Adverse Event Reporting System) website is a voluntary reporting system, and the CDC itself admits that only a minuscule percentage of vaccine injuries are reported to it. Plus, it is not easy to file a VAERS report!  Despite how badly injured I've been, I've still not done so myself.  (I've tried and failed to do so three times to date.)  If you multiply the numbers reported to VAERS by 100 you'll get an idea of how catastrophic these vaccines have been and continue to be.  

    The mainstream media do not report on this.  They are owned by the same corporate forces that control the FDA, the CDC, the political parties, and all the regulatory agencies of our government. The pro-vaccine propaganda is total and is completely in control of the narrative.  Anyone who experiences anything which contradicts that narrative is deemed to be either crazy or some sort of dangerous dissident. Facebook takes down legions of posts which express anti-vaccination sentiment, despite the fact that people are simply sharing their own personal experiences!  We are fast becoming a totalitarian, fascist country. No contrary thoughts are allowed. No honest debate or discussions are allowed.  We are told blatant lies and expected to never question anything we are told. Example:  "The vaccines are safe and effective."  

    The public was not told the that the vaccine trials excluded anyone with known preexisting health problems, including people who have autoimmune diseases.  I have autoimmune thyroiditis. Doctors have long known that people with autoimmune conditions are at high risk of adverse reactions to vaccines of all kinds (not just the new covid vaccines.)  But I did not know this.  Most people do not know this.   If I'd known about the way the trials were conducted I would never have even considered getting vaccinated!

    • Rebecca Guirre Rebecca Guirre United States says:

      Ms.Cohen, thank you for your courage.Yes..facebook and Twitter are censoring anyone with adverse reactions to the COVID vaccines.My father had cardiac symptoms shortly after the mRNA COVID vaccines and within a week of receiving his second vaccine he was hospitalized after a myocardial infarction.Fpur days later he had a stroke..the next day he passed away. Since his death I have tried to ask questions about the pzizer and Moderna vaccines.clearly myocarditis and pericarditis are part of the adverse effects of these vaccines
      I don't know how this connects to the inflammatory response in mice and humans. We must be active and engaged  and not give up...what passes for news is propaganda and what passes for choice/inclusion is coercion in 2023. Let's work on vaccine advocacy and education and not let them silence us.❤️

  5. Kevin Martin Kevin Martin Canada says:

    How quickly do these nanoparticles break down? Will ongoing subsequent boosters cause complications in our organs? The original biodistribution showed 12% distribution to fallopian tubes in rodent trials. What ongoing studies are being conducted and where is that data? This is scary as hell. It's "packaging" and a "Delivery mechanism".
    Man's history with with accomplishments have ALWAYS led to unforseen/overlooked consequences.
    Save trees= plastic in our oceans
    Send a rocket to space= space junk
    Can these LNP'S leave us dealing with "Biojunk"?

  6. Sherri Herndon Sherri Herndon United States says:

    Has anyone found any studies citing treatment for this problem? Is this ever going to end or are we plagued with this the rest of our lives?

The opinions expressed here are the views of the writer and do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of News Medical.
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