Angiogenesis is an important process in the pathogenesis of aortic aneurysm. The aim of the present study was to investigate the angiogenic balance and the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in thoracic aortic aneurysm (TAA). A previous study demonstrated that curcumin exerts a marked effect on aortic aneurysm development. Therefore, the present study determined whether curcumin is able to modulate angiogenesis and inflammatory signaling in TAA by collecting human TAA samples and establishing a rat TAA model using periaortic application of CaCl2. TAA rats were treated with curcumin or 1% carboxymethyl cellulose and were sacrificed 4 weeks after the operation. All tissue specimens were analyzed by histological staining, immunohistochemistry and western blotting. Human TAA samples exhibited increased neovascularization and VEGF expression when compared with normal aortic walls. In rat tissues, treatment with curcumin resulted in reduced aneurysm size and restored the wavy structure of the elastic lamellae. In addition, curcumin decreased neovascularization and the expression of VEGF. Immunohistochemical analysis indicated that curcumin significantly inhibited infiltration of cluster of differentiation (CD)3+ and CD68+ cells in TAA. Furthermore, curcumin treatment decreased the expression of vascular cell adhesion molecule‑1, intracellular adhesion molecule‑1, monocyte chemoattractant protein‑1 and tumor necrosis factor‑α. Collectively, the results demonstrated that angiogenesis and VEGF expression were increased in the aortic wall in TAA. Treatment with curcumin inhibited TAA development in rats, which was associated with suppression of VEGF expression. In addition, curcumin attenuated inflammatory cell infiltration and suppressed inflammatory factor expression in the periaortic tissue of TAA.

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