Foods and Nutritional Components That Regulate Bone and Vascular Tissue Metabolism

(JSNFS Award for Young Investigators (2021))

Abstract

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a disease characterized by progressive dilation of the abdominal aorta. Because details of the pathogenesis of AAA remain unknown, no effective therapeutic agent has been developed. Using human arterial and mouse abdominal aortic models, we have demonstrated for the first time that osteoclasts are present in these vessels, and that they are involved in the development of aneurysms. Hyperglycemia is also known to be a negative risk factor for the development of aneurysms, but no detailed analysis has been reported. When aneurysm formation was induced in a diabetic mouse model, macrophage activity was decreased by hyperglycemia. The formation of aneurysms was then suppressed, and it was clarified that liver x receptors (LXRs) were involved in this suppression. Furthermore, administration of puerarin, an isoflavone kudzu, significantly suppressed osteoclast differentiation and aneurysm formation in this murine aneurysm model. Based on these findings, it is expected that clinical research into the treatment of AAA targeting osteoclasts and preventive methods using food and nutritional components will be established in the future.