CD69 and aneurysm: To assess whether CD69 and PD-1 upregulation is associated with chronic vascular inflammatory disease, CD69, PD-1 and NR4A3 mRNA expression was analysed by RT-PCR in inflamed abdominal aortic samples from aneurysm patients undergoing open repair surgery (n = 49) and healthy abdominal aorta from multi-organ donors (n = 11).