The expression of alpha-1 antitrypsin in ascending aortic dissection and aneurysm tissues

Objective To investigate whether alpha-1 antitrypsin is present in normal human aorta, ascending aortic aneurysm and stanford A type aortic dissection (TAAD) tissues and whether there are some expression differences in alpha-1 antitrypsin levels among them, and discuss its potential protective effects on aortic wall structure. Methods Histological method, semi-quantified reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) and Western blotting were used to test whether alpha-1 antitrypsin was present in normal human aorta, ascending aortic aneurysm and TAAD tissues. TAAD tissues in 14 cases, ascending aortic aneurysm tissues in 7 cases and normal ascending aorta tissues in 7 cases were harvested. Results alpha-1 antitrypsin expression was strongly increased in TAAD and ascending aortic aneurysm tissues as compared with normal aorta (0. 285 ±0. 010, 0. 153 ±0. 011,0. 102 ±0. 010,P <0. 05). alpha-1 antitrypsin was increased more significantly in ascending aortic aneurysm than in TAAD (0. 285 ±0. 010 vs 0. 153 ±0. 011 ,P < 0. 05 ). RT-PCR revealed that there was endogenous alpha-1 antitrypsin produced in aortic wall, and mRNA expression levels of them were highest in ascending aortic aneurym and lowest in TAAD (2. 192 ±0. 133, 1. 213 ±0. 156, 0. 672 ±0. 101 ,P <0. 05). Conclusion alpha-1 antitrypsin is present in normal human aorta, ascending aortic aneurysm and TAAD tissues, and there are differential expression differences among them. alpha-1 antitrypsin presents a potential pathway for protection of aortic wall structure. Key words: Antitrypsin;  Aneurysm;  Ascending aorta