Biomarkers associated with abdominal aortic aneurysmal disease
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Biomarkers associated with abdominal aortic aneurysmal disease
IRAS ID
178707
Contact name
Damian M Bailey
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Cwm Taf University Health Board
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 6 months, 0 days
Research summary
Abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA), which are swellings of the large artery found in the abdomen of more than 3cm, affect 5% of the population. Risk factors for this condition include being male, having high blood pressure, high cholesterol and smoking. Aneurysms can grow in size which increases the risk of rupture and possible death. In patients with an AAA measuring more than 5.5cm in size, the benefits of an operation to repair the artery outweigh the risk of surgery. Size can easily be measured using ultrasound and successive scans form the basis of existing screening/surveillance programmes.
Recent studies by our group have investigated oxidative stress, anti-oxidants and inflammatory markers in an AAA patient group from a screening programme.
In the present study, we aim to extend this work by measuring the blood borne concentrations of vitamin D and specific enzymes (MMP2 and MMP9) in the same group and relate them to size of AAA. Scientific literature suggests patients with low vitamin D and high MMP enzymes in their blood may be susceptible to accelerated rates of AAA growth. We wish to use samples already collected for ethically approved research from patients attending AAA screening for this study to understand if variation in the biologically available vitamin D concentration and MMP enzyme concentration is associated with size of AAA. This information may help, in the future, to predict which patients will benefit most from attending AAA screening programmes and inform future trials where nutritional supplementation or medication may reduce risk of developing AAA.REC name
East of England - Cambridge Central Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
15/EE/0147
Date of REC Opinion
30 Mar 2015
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion