Novel targets and strategies in abdominal aortic aneurysm
Description: Cardiovascular diseases, also including abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), are an enormous health care burden and ruptured AAA account for approximately 1% of the annual deaths. No good treatment besides surgery and standard treatment for underlying cardiovascular diseases exist. There is a strong link between AAA and inflammation of the vessel but the mechanisms are unknown. To be able to find new therapeutic preventive strategies the molecular mechanisms behind the disease and drug targets needs to be elucidated in more detail.The main aim is to increase the knowledge behind pathophysiological and molecular mechanisms of AAA disease to find patients at higher risk in their disease and to find novel treatment strategies.We will investigate the role and effects of novel pathways and inflammatory therapeutic targets on AAA development in mice and humans. In clinical trials we will investigate the protective role of potential drugs (imatinib and metformin) on AAA growth and cardiovascular outcome. We will further establish a microRNA plasma biomarker for AAA that predicts aneurysm that grow fastest and are more prone to rupture. These markers will be validated in mice models and tested for their inhibitory function on selective pathways.The importance of this research is to increase the knowledge of pathogenesis of AAA so that standardized surgery can be replaced by risk-adapted medication resulting in reduced mortality and fewer complications leading to better quality of life.
Funder: Vetenskapsrådet
Amount: SEK 2,100,000
Funding type: research
Funder scheme: Project grant
Start date: 2017-01-01
End date: 2019-12-31
Investigator: Dick Wågsäter
Institution: Linköping University
Funded outputs count: 1
Funder award ID: 2016-02626
OpenAlex ID: G8807102408