Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is an uncommon large vessel vasculitis. TAK predominantly affects younger individuals, is associated with considerable morbidity and a high risk of mortality largely from cardiovascular complications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and aortic dissection. The pathology in TAK is aortic and large artery inflammation resulting in a stenosed vessel. Immune mechanisms underlie the pathogenesis of TAK, both in the inflammatory phase of arteritis and in the reparative phase of arterial wall fibrosis. Therefore, understanding the immunology of processes related to TAK might help to identify newer therapeutic avenues for this disease. Unfortunately, no immunosuppressive therapy has been demonstrated to be effective when compared with placebo in a randomized controlled trial of patients with TAK to date.
This article collection aims to showcase research related to the pathophysiologic aspects of TAK related to either cellular populations, circulating molecules, genetic/epigenetic/transcriptomic changes, advances in imaging (CT or MR angiography, positron emission tomography computed tomography), or clinical parameters and outcomes in patients with TAK and their analysis using advanced statistical techniques or artificial intelligence. Studies might relate to peripheral blood or arterial tissue (as the latter is sparse and difficult to access). Studies related to the exploration of treatment with disease-modifying agents (either observational studies or randomized controlled trials) which clearly explain an immunological basis to the observed findings would also be of interest to this special collection.
The collection welcomes brief reports, full original research articles, mini-reviews, or full review articles on any aspects of TAK with an immunological basis. The presented work should be based on sound hypotheses and due attention should be paid to the methodological aspects to enable sound conclusions from the data presented. All the original research work should have at least a component of independent experimental validation of the results conducted by the researchers themselves. The submission of data based on analysis of publicly available databases alone is not encouraged. A critical analysis of biases related to the approach used by the authors should be included in the manuscripts.
Takayasu arteritis (TAK) is an uncommon large vessel vasculitis. TAK predominantly affects younger individuals, is associated with considerable morbidity and a high risk of mortality largely from cardiovascular complications such as stroke, myocardial infarction, and aortic dissection. The pathology in TAK is aortic and large artery inflammation resulting in a stenosed vessel. Immune mechanisms underlie the pathogenesis of TAK, both in the inflammatory phase of arteritis and in the reparative phase of arterial wall fibrosis. Therefore, understanding the immunology of processes related to TAK might help to identify newer therapeutic avenues for this disease. Unfortunately, no immunosuppressive therapy has been demonstrated to be effective when compared with placebo in a randomized controlled trial of patients with TAK to date.
This article collection aims to showcase research related to the pathophysiologic aspects of TAK related to either cellular populations, circulating molecules, genetic/epigenetic/transcriptomic changes, advances in imaging (CT or MR angiography, positron emission tomography computed tomography), or clinical parameters and outcomes in patients with TAK and their analysis using advanced statistical techniques or artificial intelligence. Studies might relate to peripheral blood or arterial tissue (as the latter is sparse and difficult to access). Studies related to the exploration of treatment with disease-modifying agents (either observational studies or randomized controlled trials) which clearly explain an immunological basis to the observed findings would also be of interest to this special collection.
The collection welcomes brief reports, full original research articles, mini-reviews, or full review articles on any aspects of TAK with an immunological basis. The presented work should be based on sound hypotheses and due attention should be paid to the methodological aspects to enable sound conclusions from the data presented. All the original research work should have at least a component of independent experimental validation of the results conducted by the researchers themselves. The submission of data based on analysis of publicly available databases alone is not encouraged. A critical analysis of biases related to the approach used by the authors should be included in the manuscripts.