"Abstract
The SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus responsible for the COVID-19 disease) uses the Spike proteins of its envelope for infecting target cells expressing on the membrane the angiotensin converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) enzyme that acts as a receptor. To control the pandemic, genetically engineered vaccines have been designed for inducing neutralizing antibodies against the Spike proteins. These vaccines do not act like traditional protein-based vaccines, as they deliver the message in the form of mRNA or DNA to host cells that then produce and expose the Spike protein on the membrane (from which it can be shed in soluble form) to alert the immune system. Mass vaccination has brought to light various adverse effects associated with these genetically based vaccines, mainly affecting the circulatory and cardiovascular system.
Introduction
... Before entering the market and being authorized for large population immunization, vaccines should undergo extensive scrutiny to ensure not only their efficacy in preventing the infection or in reducing the extent of the manifestations of the disease caused by the infectious agent, but also and most importantly, their safety. This aspect is crucial, as vaccines are supposed to be administered to healthy people. Safety profiling of the vaccine becomes pivotal, especially when considering the need for frequent boosting because of immunity waning in only a few months. In this respect, literature data report on a variety of serious adverse effects associated with COVID-19 mRNA vaccination. These include myocarditis, pericarditis, hypertensive crisis, and other serious cardiovascular events, as well as neurological, dermatological, and autoimmune reactions, among others...
[H]eart-related adverse events have been reported with anomalous high frequency, particularly in the cases of BNT162b2 (Pfizer-BioNTech) and mRNA-1273 (Moderna) mRNA vaccines...
8. Overview and Prospects...
8.1. Causality Assessment
Immunization with the COVID-19 mRNA vaccines is particularly challenging for the immune system and has important reflections on the pathophysiology of the cardiovascular system because: 1. These are not traditional vaccines, but instead behave as immunomodulatory pro-drugs that are 'metabolized' for producing the active antigen in an unpredicted amount, in unpredicted sites (tissue, cell type), and for unpredicted lengths of time. 2. The encoded Spike protein is not simply an antigen; instead, it is an active RAS [Renin-Angiotensin-System] modulator. 3. The encoded Spike protein may not reside on the membrane of the transfected cells, but instead can be released in a free form or bound to exosomes and travel to sites distant from the synthesis site...
The fact that vaccine-derived Spike proteins can have a dysregulatory influence on the RAS implies that, in the case of patients with cardiovascular and coagulation diseases, an interaction between the vaccine and the underlying condition is entirely plausible and should not be discarded."
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