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Home > Press Center > Press Releases from 2007 Annual Meeting > Doxycycline Delays Aneurysm Rupture in Marfan Syndrome

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Emily Kalata
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Thoracic aneurysms are the main cardiovascular complication of Marfan Syndrome (MFS). In a recent study, doxycycline (a non-specific matrix metalloproteinases (MMP) inhibitor) effectively blocked proteins that break down the aorta and significantly delay aneurysm rupture, tears and bleeding in MFS in mice. Additionally, doxycycline reduced elastin degradation and expression of two MMPs thought to have an important role in aneurysms, MMP-2 and MMP-9. Results of this research were released today at the 61st Annual Meeting of the Society for Vascular Surgery.

Researchers used a mouse model of MFS in which fibrillin-1 is under-expressed because the disease has been associated with mutations in gene encoding fibrillin-1, a constituent of the elastin fiber. These genetically engineered mice mimic many of the clinical features of patients with Marfan syndrome. Recent in vitro studies have indicated that microfibril proteolysis also promotes inflammation and MMP over-production.

The MFS mice were divided into two groups. Those that were given doxycycline in their drinking water lived nearly twice as long as the mice that did not receive docycycline according to B. Timothy Baxter, MD, professor in the department of surgery, at the University of Nebraska Medical Center in Omaha. 

In the past, with the limited understanding of MFS, said Dr. Baxter, beta-blockers were used to lower blood pressure and slow the heart rate in an attempt to delay the aorta’s enlargement. However, he added, beta-blockers caused only modest improvement and the side effects of the beta-blockers affected the quality of the patients’ lives.

“In patients with MFS, the need for surgical intervention is determined by following the aortic enlargement with ultrasound or CT scans done at six to 12 month intervals until a specific threshold of growth is reached when surgery is recommended,” said Dr. Baxter. “This approach of watchful waiting is unsettling and stressful for patients.”

“Future clinical trials will be required to determine if this same beneficial effect can delay or prevent the need for surgery in  patients with Marfan syndrome,” said Dr. Baxter.