Sickle Cell Anemia Mediates Carotid Artery Expansive Remodeling That Can Be Prevented by Inhibition of JNK (c-Jun N-Terminal Kinase).

Objective: Sickle cell anemia (SCA) causes chronic inflammation and multiorgan damage. Less understood are the arterial complications, most evident by increased strokes among children. Proteolytic mechanisms, biomechanical consequences, and pharmaceutical inhibitory strategies were studied in a mouse model to provide a platform for mechanistic and intervention studies of large artery damage due to sickle cell disease.