Regular articleVascular biology, atherosclerosis, and endothelium biologyDeficiency of Interleukin-1 Receptor Antagonist Promotes Spontaneous Femoral Artery Aneurysm Formation in Mice

Femoral artery aneurysms (FAAs) are very rare, and their natural history is not well understood. In this study, we sought to analyze the pathogenesis of inflammatory FAAs in interleukin-1 receptor antagonist-deficient (IL-1Ra−/−) B6 mice. Systolic arterial pressures and plasma lipid levels of IL-1Ra−/− mice and wild-type (WT) mice did not differ significantly. However, IL-1Ra−/− mice spontaneously developed fusiform FAAs. Real-time PCR of 9-month-old IL-1Ra−/− mice revealed significantly increased mRNA levels of IL-1β (6.6-fold), tumor necrosis factor-α (TNF-α) (12.4-fold), and matrix metalloproteinase-9 (6.0-fold) compared with WT mice. Histological analysis revealed numerous inflammatory cells around the FAAs in IL-1Ra−/− mice, and elastin staining showed destruction of both the internal and external elastic lamina in IL-1Ra−/− mice. Afterward, macrophage function was studied. After lipopolysaccharide (1 μg/mL) stimulation, IL-1Ra-deficient macrophages produced much higher levels of TNF-α than those from WT mice. Finally, we performed bone marrow cell transplantation. FAAs with many inflammatory cells in the adventitia were detected in several WT mice that received bone marrow cells from IL-1Ra−/− mice (44%), but not from WT mice (0%). Our study is the first to demonstrate that IL-1Ra deficiency in inflammatory cells disrupts immune system homeostasis and induces inflammatory FAAs in IL-1Ra−/− B6 mice. We believe that these mice will provide much information about the natural history and management of FAAs.