Potential of the pharmacological inhibition of CCL2-CCR2 axis via targeting FROUNT to prevent the initiation and the progression of intracranial aneurysms in rats

Intracranial aneurysms (IAs) affect 1%-5% of the public and are a major cause of subarachnoid hemorrhage. Currently, there is no medical treatment to prevent the progression or rupture of IAs. Recent studies have defined IA as a chronic inflammatory disease in which macrophages infiltrate intracranial arteries via the CCL2-CCR2 axis. The chemokine signal regulator FROUNT mediates this axis, and it can be inhibited by the anti-alcoholism drug disulfiram. Therefore, inhibition of macrophage infiltration by interfering with FROUNT using disulfiram may represent a strategy to prevent exacerbation of IAs. Here, effects of disulfiram were investigated in vitro and in an animal model of IAs. FROUNT expression was observed on infiltrated macrophages both in human IAs and in the rat IA model by immunohistochemistry. In vitro treatment with disulfiram suppressed CCL2-mediated migration of cultured rat macrophages in a transwell system. Disulfiram administered in a rat model of IAs inhibited both the initiation and the enlargement of IAs in a dose-dependent manner; this was accompanied by suppression of macrophage infiltration. These results suggest that pharmacological inhibition of the CCL2-CCR2-FROUNT signaling cascade could be a treatment of patients with IAs.