Pharmaceutical stabilization of abdominal aortic aneurysms : changing its natural history

Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs) are potentially lethal due to rupture. Rupture occurs mainly in AAA greater than 55mm and acute repair still results in mortality over 30%. Although the results of elective treatment have significantly improved over the years and mortality is low ( a considerable risk of morbidity. AAAs are prevalent mostly in elderly patients and generally only progress slowly in size. Therefore, treatment that slows aneurysm growth would allow patients to avoid aneurysm repair, in particularly elderly patients. Insight into the pathophysiology of the disease has improved over the past few years and continuing research has led the focus towards finding pharmaceutical means to inhibit or even abrogate aneurysm growth. The aim of this thesis was to identify new possible targets for pharmacological treatment of AAAs and to apply this insight to the development of new therapies in a preclinical setting. Besides, understanding the cause of AAA progression can help identify secondary prevention strategies aimed at slowing down expansion.