Understanding how lipids in the blood influence the growth of abdominal aneurysms

Determining how bioactive phospholipids regulate development of abdominal aortic aneurysm and coagulation using multiomic approaches.

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a swelling in the aorta, the main blood vessel that runs from the heart down through the chest and abdomen. People with AAA are often monitored to see if the swelling gets bigger, when they will need surgery. There are no treatments to prevent the aneurysm getting larger, but some studies suggest that blood clotting might be involved, making this a potential avenue to explore. Professor O’Donnell and her team have found that certain fats in the blood, called phospholipids , could be involved in the development of AAA. In this programme, they will study two of these phospholipids (eoxPL and lysoPL) in more detail. They will look at how eoxPL controls blood clotting and the breakdown of clots in mice during AAA development. They will also study aorta tissue samples and blood clots from 100 people who had surgery for AAA, measuring the amounts of eoxPL and lysoPL and how these link to metabolism and inflammation. Finally, they plan to see whether treating mice with eoxPL, could prevent or even reverse an aortic aneurysm in mice. The goal is to understand how blood lipids influence blood clotting and act together during AAA development, and whether drugs that affect this process could limit the progression of an aneurysm.