A vaccine that targets inflammation in the arteries has been shown to decrease the risk of stroke in lab animals.
Inflammation is thought to play an important role in stroke, by possibly making the blood vessels in the brain more vulnerable to formation of a clot. In a new approach, researchers at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke, in the US, have been testing a vaccine that reduces inflammation.

They worked with a strain of laboratory rats that is prone to high blood pressure and stroke. It's known that the animals are more likely to have episodes of inflammation in the arteries that serve the brain. They were given vaccines based upon a protein called E-selectin, that normally triggers inflammation. Its presence recruits cells from the immune system which, in their turn, suppress the inflammation.

It seems to work. The animals on the vaccine had far fewer strokes than control animals who did not get the vaccine. Whether this approach is applicable to humans can only be answered by further research. But given that stroke is so common, and so hard to treat, any method of prevention that might work is very welcome.