# Defining Novel Roles of Platelets and Macrophages in the Healing of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm

> **NIH NIH R21** · UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI · 2024 · $445,500

## Abstract

ABSTRACT (Project Summary)
Rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA) leads to sudden death in 15,000 to 30,000 men and women
over the age of 65 each year in the US, and this number is growing due to both an increase in the elderly
population and our increasingly poor life-style choices, e.g. sedentary lifestyle and western diet, resulting in
cardiovascular disease. Known risk factors for AAA include advanced age, tobacco use, male gender, and
cardiovascular disease. However, the underlying cause of this condition is still poorly understood. Recent
evidence demonstrated accelerated AAA growth is associated with platelet activation and platelet aggregates
(thrombi) in aneurysmal segments. Studies have shown that platelets are critically important to the formation
and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We speculate this occurs via a platelet-derived network
of monocyte and macrophage activation. To date, little progress has been made to identify any pharmacologic
treatments which may benefit AAA patients leaving surgery as the only treatment option. The broad, long-term
goal of this proposal is to define the mechanisms by which platelets may regulated monocyte/macrophage
interactions at the site of AAA injury and to develop new and innovative tools to harness this knowledge via
reparative tissue regeneration and de novo morphogenesis. Our team will test they hypothesis that platelet –
leukocyte interactions and cross-talk in a regenerative animal model will provide a blueprint for site-specific
regeneration and healing of cardiovascular damaged tissues, specifically AAA. Our overall project combines
unique animal models and transgenic lines and new interdisciplinary collaborations to accomplish our goals.
Ultimately, our discoveries obtained utilizing this highly flexible Exploratory/Developmental Award will support
the stated mission of the NIA to extend the healthy, active years of life, and may lead to revolutionary medical
approaches for dealing with an, as yet, intractable disease state.

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10869063
- **Project number:** 1R21AG086865-01
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CINCINNATI
- **Principal Investigator:** Albert Phillip Owens III
- **Activity code:** R21 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $445,500
- **Award type:** 1
- **Project period:** 2024-08-15 → 2026-07-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10869063

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10869063, Defining Novel Roles of Platelets and Macrophages in the Healing of Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm (1R21AG086865-01). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-23 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10869063. Licensed CC0.

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