Autoimmunity in the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm and its Association with Smoking

Type I Interferon Receptor Subunit 1 Deletion Attenuates Experimental Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Formation

Objective: Type I interferon receptor signaling contributes to several autoimmune and vascular diseases such as lupus, atherosclerosis and stroke. The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of type I interferon receptor deficiency on the formation and progression of experimental abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Methods: AAAs were induced in type I interferon receptor subunit 1 (IFNAR1)-deficient and wild type control male mice via intra-infrarenal aortic infusion of porcine pancreatic elastase. Immunostaining for IFNAR1 was evaluated in experimental and clinical aneurysmal abdominal aortae. The initiation and progression of experimental AAAs were assessed via ultrasound imaging prior to (day 0) and days 3, 7 and 14 following elastase infusion. Aneurysmal histopathology was analyzed at sacrifice. Results: Increased aortic medial and adventitial IFNAR1 expression was present in both clinical AAAs harvested at surgery and experimental AAAs. Following AAA induction, wild type mice experienced progressive, time-dependent infrarenal aortic enlargement. This progression was substantially attenuated in IFNAR1-deficient mice. On histological analyses, medial elastin degradation, smooth muscle cell depletion, leukocyte accumulation and neoangiogenesis were markedly diminished in IFNAR1-deficient mice in comparison to wild type mice. Conclusion: IFNAR1 deficiency limited experimental AAA progression in response to intra-aortic elastase infusion. Combined with clinical observations, these results suggest an important role for IFNAR1 activity in AAA pathogenesis.

Genetic polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 alleles in Mexican mestizo patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms

BACKGROUND

Multiple factors are implicated in the etiology and pathogenesis of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms (AAA). Available literature of genetic studies has previously suggested the possible roles of autoimmunity, genetic predisposition and ethnic susceptibility. Due to the association with autoimmune diseases and proven application in population genetics, we aimed to investigate alleles of the Class II Human Leukocyte Antigens (HLA-DRB1) in the Mexican Mestizo population with aortic aneurysms and determine possible associations with susceptibility.

METHODS

We performed a case Control Study; the HLA molecular typing was completed for DRB1 loci by LabType Sequence-Specific Oligonucleotide (SSO) SSO-OneLambda kit (Applied Biosystems; Thermo Fisher Scientific. Inc.) in the studied individuals. Allele frequencies (af) were determined, associations were assessed by chi square or fisher exact tests at significance level (< 0.05), and Odds Ratios (OR) were calculated using the STATA software version 14.

RESULTS

The genetic polymorphism of HLA-DRB1 of fifty one patients (70% males with a mean age of 71 years) with atherosclerotic or also known as degenerative AAA were compared with 99 unrelated patients (60% males, mean age 65 years) without the disease [Control group (CG)] from the same ethnic group. We examined a total of 102 Class II HLA-DRB1 alleles of AAA patients and 198 from CG. When comparing af, we observed the HLA-DRB1*01 af of 0.139 in the AAA compared to 0.05 in the CG [p = 0.015, OR 3, 95% confidence interval (CI) 1.29-7.08], the HLA-DRB1*16 af were 0.109 in the AAA and 0.025 in CG (p = 0.006, OR 4.7, 95% CI 1.59-13.98).

CONCLUSIONS

Our study confirmed increased frequencies of the alleles HLA-DRB1*01 and HLA-DRB1*16 and their association to the development of AAA in Mexican Mestizo patients. The utility of genetic testing may assist in identifying individuals at genetic risk for the development of this disease in different ethnic groups, who might benefit from earlier ultrasound screening and closer imaging surveillance.