An abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA) is a localized dilatation of the aorta that plagues millions. Its rupture incurs high mortality rates (~80–90%), pressing an urgent need for therapeutic methods to prevent this deadly outcome. Judiciously designed nanoparticles (NPs) have displayed a unique potential to fulfill this need. Aneurysms feature excessive inflammation and extracellular matrix (ECM) degradation. As such, typically inflammatory cells and exposed ECM proteins have been targeted with NPs for therapeutic, diagnostic, or theranostic purposes in experimental models. NPs have been used not only for encapsulation and delivery of drugs and biomolecules in preclinical tests, but also for enhanced imaging to monitor aneurysm progression in patients. Moreover, they can be readily modified with various molecules to improve lesion targeting, detectability, biocompatibility, and circulation time. This review updates on the progress, limitations, and prospects of NP applications in the context of AAA.

腹主动脉瘤（AAA）是困扰数百万患者的主动脉局部扩张。它的破裂导致很高的死亡率（〜80–90％），迫切需要治疗方法来防止这种致命的后果。精心设计的纳米颗粒（NP）具有满足这一需求的独特潜力。动脉瘤具有过度炎症和细胞外基质（ECM）降解的特征。因此，在实验模型中，通常将炎症细胞和暴露的ECM蛋白用于NP，以达到治疗，诊断或治疗的目的。NP不仅用于临床前测试中药物和生物分子的封装和递送，而且还用于增强成像以监测患者的动脉瘤进展。而且，它们可以很容易地用各种分子修饰，以改善病变定位，可检测性，生物相容性和循环时间。这篇评论更新了AAA环境下NP应用的进展，局限性和前景。