Association between obesity, TGFb, thrombospondin and small abdominal aortic aneurysm progression.

腹主动脉瘤（AAA）是澳大利亚中老年人死亡的重要原因。尽管动脉粥样硬化的医疗管理有所改善，但AAA的发生率仍在继续增加。我们假设肥胖在AAA的发展过程中很重要。在一项社区筛查研究中，我们发现腰臀比与AAA独立相关。在本项目中，我们研究肥胖与AAA之间这种关联的机制。

Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is an important cause of mortality in middle aged and elderly Australians. The incidence of AAA continues to increase despite improvements in the medical management of atherosclerosis. We postulate that obesity is important in the progression of AAA. In a community screening study we found that waist-hip ratio was independently associated with AAA. In this project we investigate the mechanisms underlying this association between obesity and AAA.