Commentary on “Inhibition of interleukin-1beta decreases aneurysm formation and progression in a novel model of thoracic aortic aneurysms”

Aortic aneurysm is a silent but life-threatening disease, whose pathogenesis remains poorly understood. Aneurysm models have been induced in small animals to study its pathogenesis, Johnston WF et al. successfully induced a novel model of thoracic aortic aneurysms (TAA) by periadventitial application of elastase in mice. We comment on this model according to our experiment. We hypothesize that endogenous MMPs, especially MMP2, play a vital role in complex repair process of aneurysmal wall, which should be a key target in the investigation and treatment of aortic aneurysms.