Deletion of Angiotensin II Type 1a Receptor in Perivascular Adipose Tissue Attenuates Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm in Apolipoprotein E-/- Mice

Introduction: Perivascular adipose tissue (PVAT) exhibits features characteristic of active local inflammation, which contributes to the development of atherosclerotic disease as a complication of obesity/metabolic syndrome. In this study, we investigated the role of PVAT in the progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) and hypothesized that deletion of angiotensin II (Ang II) type 1a (AT1a) receptor in PVAT could attenuate AAA in apolipoprotein E-deficient (ApoE-/-) mice. Methods and Results: We performed adipose tissue transplantation experiments using an Ang II-induced aneurysm murine model to assess the role PVAT in AAA. Epididymal fat pads from ApoE-/- or ApoE-/-AT1a-/- donor mice were transplanted onto abdominal aorta of ApoE-/- or ApoE-/-AT1a-/- recipient mice fed a high-fat diet. AAA was induced in the adipose tissue transplanted mice by infusing 1,000 ng/kg/min Ang II for 4 weeks. ApoE-/-AT1a-/- PVAT transplantation significantly attenuated AAA in ApoE-/- recipient mice compared to ApoE-/- P...