mRNA Vaccine and the Brain: A Recap and Update
Can the lipid nanoparticles carrying (Covid-19) mRNA vaccine really cross the blood-brain barrier? No, it’s not designed to.
A few researchers have previously raised the hypothetical concern of the Covid-19 mRNA vaccine, encapsulated in lipid nanoparticles (LNPs), entering the brain, given that LNPs can be used to deliver medical drugs across the blood-brain barrier (BBB) into the brain.
I detailed this issue in detail in “Concerns of Lipid Nanoparticle Carrying mRNA Vaccine into the Brain: What to Make of It?” back in March 2021, discussing arguments favoring and disfavoring it, with the conclusion that such an issue isn’t an alarming problem. Let’s see why again and what are the more recent developments.
What was the initial concern?
Jacob Wes Ulm, MD, Ph.D., a geneticist specializing in gene therapy, first emphasized that the biodistribution data of the LNP-encapsulated mRNA vaccine is lacking. (All mRNA vaccine mentioned herein refers to the Covid-19’s one that is encapsulated in LNPs.)
Assuming that the LNPs carried the mRNA vaccine into the brain, brain cells (e.g., neurons) might translate the mRNA into spike protein, which might then be marked as foreign…
