Among these, critical genes involved in the AGE-RAGE signaling pathway such as COL1A1, IL6, CCL2, MMP-2, and STAT3, among others, exhibited notably higher expression in SMA-positive cells of AAAs with ILT, showing statistical significance (Figure 5A; Supplementary Table S1). This evidence concerns the gene COL1A1 and achalasia-alacrima syndrome.