title: Understanding the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms.
abstract: An aortic aneurysm is a dilatation in which the aortic diameter is ≥3.0 cm. If left untreated, the aortic wall continues to weaken and becomes unable to withstand the forces of the luminal blood pressure resulting in progressive dilatation and rupture, a catastrophic event associated with a mortality of 50-80%. Smoking and positive family history are important risk factors for the development of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). Several genetic risk factors have also been identified. On the histological level, visible hallmarks of AAA pathogenesis include inflammation, smooth muscle cell apoptosis, extracellular matrix degradation and oxidative stress. We expect that large genetic, genomic, epigenetic, proteomic and metabolomic studies will be undertaken by international consortia to identify additional risk factors and biomarkers, and to enhance our understanding of the pathobiology of AAA. Collaboration between different research groups will be important in overcoming the challenges to develop pharmacological treatments for AAA.
authors: a 1 Sigfried and Janet Weis Center for Research, Geisinger Health System, Danville, PA 17822, USA.
authors: Helena
authors: H
authors: Kuivaniemi
authors: Evan J
authors: EJ
authors: Ryer
authors: James R
authors: JR
authors: Elmore
authors: Gerard
authors: G
authors: Tromp
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D001011:Aorta / Q000196:embryology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D017544:Aortic Aneurysm, Abdominal / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000209:etiology / Q000503:physiopathology*; D004195:Disease Models, Animal; D006801:Humans
keywords: animal models; doxycycline; embryologic origin; epigenetics; extracellular matrix; genetic susceptibility; inflammation; matrix metalloproteinases; risk factors; smoking