Proinflammatory role of stem cells in abdominal aortic aneurysms

Stem cell-based therapy has been effective in repairing myocardium after myocardial infarction, and ongoing clinical trials are evaluating adult stem cell therapy in the treatment of peripheral arterial disease. Numerous animal models have shown that stem cell regenerative therapy may also be useful in the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAAs). Before AAA stem cell-based interventions are pursued, the presence and differentiation of stem cells in human AAA samples needs to be evaluated. To the best of our knowledge, this represents the first investigation to examine the prevalence and differentiation of stem cells in the aneurysmal human infrarenal aorta.