Current progress of fluoroquinolones-increased risk of aortic aneurysm and dissection

Aortic aneurysm (AA) and aortic dissection (AD) are major life-threatening diseases around the world. AA is a localized or diffuse dilation of the aorta, while AD is the separation of the layers creating a false lumen within the aortic wall. Fluoroquinolones (FQ) remain one of the most important kind of antibiotics and have a wider clinical use and broad antibacterial spectrum. FQ were also reported to treat infected AA. The most common adverse events (AEs) of FQ are mild and reversible, like headaches, diarrhea and nausea. Due to FQ-related serious AEs, such as tendonitis and tendon rupture, chondrotoxicity, or retinal detachment, QT-prolongation and dysglycemia, the United States Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued a black box warning for FQ for systemic use in 2016 and updated warnings for FQ several times since then. Of note, in December 2018, FDA issued several “black box warnings” against FQ with the latest safety announcement warning about an increased risk of ruptures in the aorta blood vessel in certain patients. Recently, many studies have indicated an association between FQ and an increase risk of AA and AD. However, the exact mechanism of FQ-induced AA/AD remains unclear. This review aims to highlight the latest research progress of the alarming association between FQ and AA/AD. Moreover, molecular mechanisms of FQ in increasing risk of AA and AD are explored. Hopefully, this review can provide novel insights into FQ-increased the risk of AA/AD and a starting place for stewardship interventions.