The Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm Is an Antigen-Driven Autoimmune Disease

Abstract

The first autoantigen to be discovered in the disease of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) was detected by probing a tryptic digest of normal human aorta with serum from a AAA patient. The serum was immunoreactive with an antigen that had an apparent molecular weight of approximately 40 kD. We named this putative autoantigen Aortic Aneurysm Antigenic Protein 40 kDa (AAAP-40). Further studies have been undertaken to characterize this molecule and to question its relevance to AAA disease.