Biomarkers And Screening Tests For Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm: A Brief Review

Background: Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA), though it is a deadly disease, it remains silent invariably. Hence, one has to suspect and evaluate AAA at least in a susceptible group at an earlier stage to reduce the morbidity and mortality. Objective: To find out the usefulness and limitations of various biomarkers in diagnosing AAA and drug to prevent/treat it. Material And Methods: Published data were collected from web using keywords biomarkers, clinical methods, screening tests and abdominal aortic aneurysm. Results: Biomarkers identified for AAA are osteopontin (OPN), osetoprotegrin (OPG), Matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), circulating levels of tumor necrosis factor-α, interleukin-1β, interleukin -6, interferon-γ, amino terminal propeptide of type 3 collagen, C-reactive protein (CRP), fibrinogen, total WBC count, albumin and ultrasonogram of abdomen. Co-existing illnesses influence inflammatory biomarkers. The promising biomarker is Osteopontin and this is useful to assess the status and progression of AAA. The drug, Irbesartan (angiotensin II blocker) has been shown to reduce the size of aneurysm by dwindling the secretion of osteoprotegrin. Conclusions: Primary focus should be on early detection and management. To achieve this goal, orientation of primary health care professionals towards symptoms and signs of AAA, surgeons to look for the same during abdominal surgeries and radiologists to search for it during USG/ CT scan of abdomen. *This paper was presented in the conference “SUMMIT ON ACUTE AORTIC DISEASES: LUX ET VERITAS” held at Yale University Medical School, New Haven, Connecticut, USA on November 1-2, 2007. This program was conducted by Promedica International CME, a California corporation.