Announcing a new article publication for Cardiovascular Innovations and Applications journal. This editorial highlights a landmark study that applies an integrative multi-omics framework to uncover a causal connection between chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Through the combined use of bidirectional Mendelian randomization (MR), tissue-specific expression quantitative trait loci (eQTL) analysis, single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq), and phenome-wide association studies (PheWAS), the study provides robust genetic and molecular evidence linking the two diseases.

A key discovery is the identification of 48 genes associated with both conditions, including KIF3A, a gene found to inhibit disease activity in both COPD and AAA. The integration of scRNA-seq data allowed localization of relevant genes—such as PLTP, RIF1, and IFI27L2—to immune and stromal cells, providing insights into tissue-specific mechanisms of pathogenesis.

Read more: https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.15212/CVIA.2025.0019

The findings indicate that COPD may contribute directly to the development of AAA, challenging the notion that the conditions are merely coincidental comorbidities. This has significant implications for clinical guidelines, including consideration of routine AAA screening in patients with COPD.

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Mario D’Oria. Multi-Omics Exploration of Risk Factors and Pathways Linking Respiratory Conditions and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm. CVIA. 2025. Vol. 10(1). DOI: 10.15212/CVIA.2025.0019