Lipidomic signatures of aortic media from patients with atherosclerotic and nonatherosclerotic aneurysms

Aortic aneurysms are associated with fatal aortic rupture. Current therapeutic approaches are limited to implantation of aortic prostheses and stent-grafts; no effective drugs are available because the pathogenic mechanisms of aortic aneurysms remain unclear. Here, we aimed to elucidate the molecular mechanisms of the initiation and progression of aortic aneurysm by lipidomics. We performed lipidomics analyses of lipids in the aortic media of normal, border, and aneurysm areas from patients with thoracic atherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 30), thoracic nonatherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 19), and abdominal atherosclerotic aortic aneurysm (N = 11) and from controls (N = 8) using liquid chromatography and mass spectrometry. Significant alterations were observed in the lipid profiles of patients with atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms and to a lesser extent in those with nonatherosclerotic aneurysms. Increased triacylglycerols (TGs) and decreased ether-type phosphatidylethanolamines (ePEs) were observed throughout the normal, border, and aneurysm areas of thoracic and abdominal atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms. Prostaglandin D(2) increased, but ePEs and TGs decreased in normal areas of thoracic atherosclerotic aortic aneurysms and thoracic nonatherosclerotic aortic aneurysms compared with the control tissues. These findings expand our knowledge of metabolic changes in aortic aneurysms and provide insights into the pathophysiology of aortic aneurysms.