HDSU catalogue

Athero- and AAA-Express

Athero- and Aneurysm-Express Biobank Studies

Description

The Athero-Express Biobank Study (AE) and the Abdominal Aortic Aneurysm-Express Biobank Study (AAA) are two ongoing, prospective biobank studies initiated in 2002 and 2003, respectively. Together, they comprise detailed histological and clinical data from over 4,500 patients who underwent arterial surgery at two Dutch tertiary referral centers. The AE Biobank includes over 3,500 patients who underwent endarterectomy to remove atherosclerotic plaques, predominantly from the carotid and femoral arteries. The AAA Biobank includes over 1,000 patients who underwent open surgical repair of arterial aneurysms, primarily abdominal aortic aneurysms. For both studies, blood and vascular tissue (plaque or aneurysm wall) were collected during surgery and stored at −80℃. Tissue material is routinely processed for standardised (immuno)histochemical analysis, with histological observations performed by the same dedicated technician, ensuring consistency; interobserver analyses have been previously reported. In AE, the following plaque characteristics were quantified or scored: • Macrophages (CD68) and smooth muscle cells (α-actin) as the percentage of field area using computerised analysis. • Intraplaque vessel density (CD34) as the average count per 3 hotspots. • Intraplaque haemorrhage (IPH) was scored as absent/present using hematoxylin and eosin (HE). • Intraplaque fat was defined as < or ≥40% of total plaque area (HE). • Calcification (HE) and collagen content (picrosirius red) were scored as no/minor vs. moderate/heavy staining. • Overall plaque vulnerability was assessed following the method by Verhoeven et al. In AAA, tissue sections were stained using: • HE, EVG (elastin), picrosirius red (collagen), SMA (smooth muscle cells), CD68 (macrophages), CD3 (T cells), CD20 (B cells), CD138 (plasma cells), and von Willebrand factor (vasa vasorum). • Each marker was semiquantitatively scored from 0 to 3 (0: none, 1: minor, 2: moderate, 3: heavy), separately for the intima, media, and adventitia, across both structural components and immune cell types. For both cohorts, clinical data is obtained through standardised questionnaires, and supplemented with electronic health records where necessary. Ethical approval for this study (TME/C-01.18) was provided by the Medical Research Ethics Committee of University Medical Center Utrecht, Utrecht, The Netherlands on 10 April 2002, and all research was conducted according to the principles of the Declaration of Helsinki (59th amendment, Seoul 2008) and in accordance with the Dutch Medical Research Involving Human Subjects Act (WMO).

General Design

Type
Biobank, Cohort study, Registry
Cohort type
Clinical cohort, Case only
Data collection type
Retrospective, Prospective
Design
Longitudinal
Design description
The Athero-Express Biobank Study (AE) is a longitudinal cross-sectional biobank study collecting blood and atherosclerotic plaque samples from patients undergoing endarterectomy. Clinical data is collected through standardised questionnaires and supplemented by querying electronic health records when needed. Patients are followed up to 3 years after surgery.
Start/End data collection
2002 (ongoing)
Design papers
PID
https://doi.org/10.71739/371b-mg77

Population

Countries
Netherlands (the)
Number of participants
3500
Population age groups
Adult (18+ years)
Main medical condition
  • IX Diseases of the circulatory system
Inclusion criteria
  • Health status inclusion criterion
  • Hospital patient inclusion criterion

Organisations

Lead organisations
  • University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC)
    Netherlands (the)
    https://www.umcutrecht.nl

    Data originator, Data holder, Data provider, Data access provider

Contributors

Available Data & Samples

Data categories

Survey data

Sample categories

  • Blood
  • Genetic material
  • Tissue (FFPE)
  • Tissue (Frozen)

Areas of information

  • Administrative information
  • Socio-demographic and economic characteristics
  • Lifestyle and behaviours
  • Birth, pregnancy and reproductive health history
  • Perception of health, quality of life, development and functional limitations
  • Symptoms and signs
  • Medication and supplements
  • Non-pharmacological interventions
  • Death
  • Physical measures and assessments
  • Laboratory measures
  • Cognition, personality and psychological measures and assessments

Subpopulations

List of subpopulations for this resource
No results for current selection

Collection events

List of collection events defined for this resource
No results for current selection

Publications

Aneurysm-express: human abdominal aortic aneurysm wall expression in relation to heterogeneity and vascular events - rationale and design
Athero-express: differential atherosclerotic plaque expression of mRNA and protein in relation to cardiovascular events and patient characteristics. Rationale and design

Access conditions

Data access conditions
  • health or medical or biomedical research
  • disease specific research
Data use conditions
  • research specific restrictions
  • not for profit, non commercial use only
  • collaboration required
  • geographical restriction
  • return to database or resource
Data access fee
false
Release type
Closed dataset
Prelinked
false
Linkage options
Possibility to link with data from RIVM and CBS.

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