Murine Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Intraluminal Thrombus Composition and Structure

An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a dilation of the aortic wall in the abdomen. Many AAA patients develop intraluminal thrombus (ILT), but the role of ILT in AAA progression and rupture is not well understood. To evaluate ILT in AAAs, we induced AAAs in male C57Bl6/J mice (n=25) via surgical application of topical elastase (5 {micro}L of 5 or 10 mg/mL) to the abdominal aorta below the renal arteries and administration of {beta}-aminopropionitrile (BAPN, 0.2%) drinking water. We collected weekly/biweekly ultrasound images over 56 days. Mice were euthanized and histology images were collected. We semi-quantitatively assessed elastin degradation and inflammation from Movats pentachrome and H&E-stained samples, respectively. Mice with ILT had more significant expansion over the length of the study (beginning at day 14, p View larger version (25K): org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@f6ba71org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@4a8379org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1fd97c1org.highwire.dtl.DTLVardef@1f60400_HPS_FORMAT_FIGEXP M_FIG C_FIG