AGER and abdominal aortic aneurysm: Zhang et al. determined a correlation between blocked RAGE and the pathogenesis of abdominal aortic aneurysm with regard to several factors, including: (i) MMP-9, a main mediator for extracellular degradation, is responsible for the regulation and control of inflammations; and (ii) the AGE/RAGE-induced expression of pro-inflammatory molecules, such as VCAM-1 and TNF-a, is followed by the accumulation of AGEs in vessel walls.