Autoimmunity in the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and its Association with Smoking

Abstract

Smoking increases the risk of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) in both humans and mice, although the underlying mechanisms are not completely understood. An adventitial aortic antigen, AAAP-40, has been partially sequenced. It has motifs with similarities to all three fibrinogen chains and appears to be connected in evolution to a large family of proteins called fibrinogen-related proteins. Fibrinogen may undergo non-enzymatic nitration, which may result from exposure to nitric oxide in cigarette smoke. Nitration of proteins renders them more immunogenic. It has recently been reported that anti-fibrinogen antibody promotes AAA development in mice. Also, anti-fibrinogen antibodies are present in patients with AAA. These matters are reviewed in the overall context of autoimmunity in AAA. The evidence suggests that smoking amplifies an auto-immune reaction that is critical to the pathogenesis of AAA.

Type I interferon receptor subunit 1 deletion attenuates experimental abdominal aortic aneurysm formation

“…AAA risk was increased in patients with autoimmune diseases such as lupus and psoriasis [57][58][59][60][61], and anti-rheumatic therapies were associated with reduced rates of AAA enlargement [62]. While autoantigens and other autoimmunity components may contribute to AAA disease [63,64], the current findings linking IFNAR1 to experimental AAA pathogenesis provide further insights into the positive association between autoimmune diseases and aortic aneurysms.…”

Deciphering abdominal aortic diseases through T-cell clonal repertoire of perivascular adipose tissue

“…This could occur as an initial response to environmental triggers that, in combination with risk factors, e.g. smoke (Tilson, 2017), in genetically susceptible individuals may lead to immunopathogenic T-cell responses that contribute to the development and the progression of the disease.…”

“…g . smoke (Tilson, 2017), in genetically susceptible individuals may lead to immunopathogenic T-cell responses that contribute to the development and the progression of the disease.…”

Investigation of an Immunogenetic Profile in Patients with Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms and Possible Applications in Screening and Surveillance

“…The SNP rs1024611 was in Hardy-Weinberg equilibrium in patients, which was assessed using the c 2 test. Known alleles that were significantly associated with disease outcome were also examined using logistic regression, and significant differences were tested by nonparametric statistics using the STATA v. 14…”