With an aging population, the incidence of abdominal aortic aneurysms is increasing every year. Currently, there are no clear and effective drugs for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms, and there are no markers to predict their rupture. Therefore, for patients with small aneurysms, the main treatment options are blood pressure and lipid control; for patients with larger aneurysms, surgery or interventional treatment is required to prevent rupture. In a recent research paper in the cardiovascular specialty journal Circulation Research, Zhenjie Liu from the Department of Vascular Surgery at the Second Hospital of Zhejiang Medical University and researchers from the University of Wisconsin revealed through a collaborative study that TSP1, an autocrine matrix protein of inflammatory cells, plays an important role in the development and progression of abdominal aortic aneurysms. The study was conducted with human abdominal aortic aneurysm wall specimens and animal models that observed high TSP1 protein expression in the vessel wall. In subsequent studies in the animal model, TSP1 knockout mice were less likely to induce abdominal aortic aneurysms, although the inflammatory mediators secreted by the vessel wall were less altered, and fewer inflammatory cells were present within the vessel wall than in wild-type mice. Further studies revealed that the reduction of monocytes and macrophages within the aneurysmal wall was associated with the autocrine secretion of TSP1 from these inflammatory cells, as TSP1 is important for the adhesive migration of inflammatory cells. To investigate the function of TSP1 in depth, this study also constructed the C-terminal monomer, C-terminal trimer and N-terminal peptide fragment of TSP1 protein by genetic engineering. The TSP1 structure and peptide fragments at different sites were found to have different effects on the adhesion and migration of inflammatory cells. Since inflammatory cells within the aneurysm wall, play an important role in the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysms, this study suggests that TSP1 may be a target for the treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms. Professor Roberts from the NIH Cancer Center wrote a commentary on the paper, saying that the findings of the study provide new ideas for the prevention and treatment of abdominal aortic aneurysms in the future. Since TSP1 is also elevated in the corresponding tissues of patients with diabetes, obesity and hypertension. Therefore, by inhibiting the expression of TSP1 or blocking the receptors of TSP1, such as CD47, may be a new approach for the treatment of these diseases.