Potential of mRNA therapy in the treatment of cardiovascular diseases

The outbreak of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), alarmed the global community due to the significant loss of human lives during the pandemic. However, as the saying goes, every cloud has a silver lining. A positive aspect of this recent pandemic has been that it stimulated scientists to create vaccines against SARS-CoV-2, accelerating the emergence of new therapeutic agents based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Numerous mRNA therapeutic products are currently in development, with dozens at various clinical trial stages. These products have facilitated significant changes in the paradigm of medical therapy, including the treatment of cardiovascular diseases (CVD). Although most of these cardiovascular mRNA therapeutics are still in preclinical development, phase IIa trials for myocardial ischemia therapy have already been completed with encouraging results. The scope of mRNA therapy for CVD is extremely broad, potentially even limitless, with ongoing research including conditions like myocardial ischemia, heart failure, arrhythmias, hypercholesterolemia, and occlusive arterial diseases. Moreover, mRNA can be used to enhance the effectiveness of cell therapies. In the future, researchers predict that mRNA therapies will not only replace some existing biopharmaceuticals and pharmacotherapy methods but also be applied to treat previously considered untreatable cardiovascular diseases.