The tunica adventitia: From key player in aortic aneurysm pathogenesis to promising therapeutic target.
Article
He, Jia-Heng, Wang, Mi, Wang, Ting et al. (2026). The tunica adventitia: From key player in aortic aneurysm pathogenesis to promising therapeutic target.
. Vascular Pharmacology, 164 107679. 10.1016/j.vph.2026.107679
He, Jia-Heng, Wang, Mi, Wang, Ting et al. (2026). The tunica adventitia: From key player in aortic aneurysm pathogenesis to promising therapeutic target.
. Vascular Pharmacology, 164 107679. 10.1016/j.vph.2026.107679
Aortic aneurysm is a fatal vascular disease lacking effective drug therapies. Its pathogenesis is complex, with traditional studies mainly focusing on endothelial cells in the intima and smooth muscle cells in the media. Recent studies have shown that aortic adventitia is a key driver of pathological progression, with an increasingly prominent role in the disease process. The core scientific question centers on how diverse adventitial cell populations are activated and how their interactions collectively drive the vicious cycle of chronic inflammation, extracellular matrix degradation, and pathological remodeling. This review summarizes the multifaceted roles of the adventitia in aortic aneurysm development, focusing on interactions among adventitial cell types (fibroblasts, immune cells and progenitor cells), the vasa vasorum, perivascular adipose tissue, and local immune responses, and highlights potential strategies for targeting the adventitial microenvironment.
