Angiotensin II is related to the acute aortic dissection complicated with lung injury through mediating the release of MMP9 from macrophages.

Background: Acute aortic dissection (AAD) patients usually show concurrent lung injury mainly featured by hyoxemia. To date, no effective treatment method has been established for the AAD complicated with acute lung injury (ALI). Matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), especially MMP2 and MMP9, have been considered to be closely related to the onset of aortic disease including AAD.