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. 2021 Mar 3;2:219–234. doi: 10.1016/j.jvssci.2021.01.002

Fig 1.

Fig 1

Timeline of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development in mouse models. Although the data for aortic diameter enlargement are reported for different time points in many studies, the specific molecular characteristics of the aortic wall are mainly reported for the time of sacrifice and based on the specific study. In human disease, the timeline of events is largely unclear, since samples are only available from the time of surgery, normally when diameter exceeds 50 mm and also the initial stimulus for abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) development is completely unknown. However, human AAA tends to grow exponentially based on diameter (grey area) in a chronic manner.4 This graph shows the percentage growth of the aortic diameter for the first 4 weeks after AAA induction for various mouse models. This data are based on the available systematic reviews and leading articles and are semiquantitative only to compare aortic enlargement.12,29, 30, 31, 32 For external periadventitial elastase application (ePPE), the addition of β-aminopropionitrile (BAPN) (red line) results in a marked increase in aneurysm diameter. For the angiotensin II model (AngII), the classification suggested by Daugherty et al29 in 2011 (see text) is included: type I (dark green; dilation <2 times baseline) and type II (light green: dilation <2 times baseline); type IV (light green rhomb: rupture) can occur at any time, most likely within days 4 to 10 after minipump implantation. The timeline of events in the aortic wall in comparison with the features of human disease can only be assumed for many of the models and specific details warrant further elucidation. The red boxes suggest time frames for interventional studies on AAA mouse models to suggest that not only initial stimulus-based, but human disease mimicking mechanisms are being interfered with. For most models, some aortic diameter data beyond 4 weeks after aneurysm induction is available (for ≤10 weeks) and demonstrates further flattening of the growth curve (not included in this figure). ILT, Intraluminal thrombus; VSMC, vascular smooth muscle cell.