Reducing Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Progression by Blocking Neutrophil Extracellular Traps Depends on Thrombus Formation
Nahla Ibrahim, Sonja Bleichert, Johannes Klopf, Gabriel Kurzreiter, Hubert Hayden, Viktoria Knöbl, Tyler Artner, Moritz Krall, Alexander Stiglbauer-Tscholakoff, Rudolf Oehler, Peter Petzelbauer, Albert Busch, Marc Bailey, Wolf Eilenberg, Christoph Neumayer, Christine Brostjan
Abstract
Neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) are implicated in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), located in adventitia and intraluminal thrombus. We compared the therapeutic potential of targeting upstream or downstream effector molecules of NET formation in 2 murine AAA models based on angiotensin II or peri-adventitial elastase application. In both models, NETs were detected in formed aneurysms at treatment start. Although NET inhibitors failed in the elastase model, they prevented progression of angiotensin II-induced aneurysms with thrombus, which resembles established human disease (including thrombus development). Blockade of upstream NET mediators was more effective than interference with downstream NET molecules.