Abstract
Abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a life-threatening vascular disease but effective drugs for treatment of AAA are still lacking. Recently, erythropoietin (EPO) is reported to induce AAA formation in apolipoprotein-E knock out (ApoE-/-) mice but an effective antagonist is unknown. In this study, formoterol, a β2 adrenergic receptor (β2AR) agonist, is found to be a promising agent for inhibiting AAA. To test this hypothesis, ApoE-/- mice are treated with vehicle, EPO, and EPO plus low-, medium-, and high-dose formoterol, respectively. The incidence of AAA is 0, 55%, 35%,10%, and 55% in these 5 groups, respectively. Mechanistically, senescence of vascular smooth muscle cell (VSMC) is increased by EPO while decreased by medium-dose formoterol both in vivo and in vitro, manifested by the altered expression of senescence biomarkers including phosphorylation of H2AXserine139, senescence-associated β-galactosidase activity, and P21 protein level. In addition, expression of sirtuin 1 (SIRT1) in aorta is decreased in EPO-induced AAA but remarkably elevated by medium-dose formoterol. Knockdown of β2AR and blockage of cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) attenuate the inhibitory role of formoterol in EPO-induced VSMC senescence. In summary, medium-dose formoterol attenuates EPO-induced AAA via β2AR/cAMP/SIRT1 pathways, which provides a promising medication for the treatment of AAA.