Tehran University of Medical Sciences Iranian Journal of Public Health 2251-6085 51 11 2022 11 09 2494 2503 Min Hu Department of Vascular Surgery, Wuhan Central Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Tech-nology, Wuhan 430000, China Hui Qiu Department of Oncology, Wuhan NO.1 Hospital, Wuhan 430000, China Tao He Department of Vascular Surgery, Wuhan Central Hospital, Tongji Medical College, Huazhong University of Science and Tech-nology, Wuhan 430000, China Minyu Zhong Department of Oncology, Wuhan NO.1 Hospital, Wuhan 430000, China 2022 03 23 2022 09 02 Background: To explore the effects of miRNA-218-5p on inflammation and extracellular matrix proteins of vascular smooth muscle cell line in abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). Methods: miR-218-5p expression was detected with RT-qPCR. The proliferative activity of vascular smooth muscle cells (VSMCs) was detected with CCK-8, the migration was detected by Transwell, and the apoptosis was detected with flow cytometry. The expression levels of inflammatory factors (IL-1β and IL-18) were detected by ELISA. The expression levels of proteins (MMP-9 and Netrin-1) and ADAMTS5 were detected by Western blot. The targeting relationship between miR-218-5p and ADAMTS5 was verified with dual-luciferase reporter assay. Results: Up-regulating miR-218-5p could significantly inhibit the proliferation and migration of VSMCs and induced the apoptosis (P<0.05). Down-regulating miR-218-5p could significantly promote the proliferation and migration of VSMCs and inhibit the apoptosis (P<0.05). Up-regulating miR-218-5p could inhibit the expression levels of THP-1 cytoinflammatory factors (IL-8 and IL-1β), MMP-9 and netrin-1. ADAMTS5 was the target gene of miR-218-5p. When there were both overexpression of ADAMTS5 and upregulation of miR-218-5p, the upregulation of miR-218-5p could alleviate the effects of overexpression of ADAMTS5 on the proliferation, migration and apoptosis of VSMCs. Conclusion: miR-218-5p/ADAMTS-5 molecular axis regulates the proliferation, migration, and apoptosis of VSMCs, as well as the expression of THP-1 cell inflammatory molecules and extracellular matrix molecules. https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/view/28212 https://ijph.tums.ac.ir/index.php/ijph/article/download/28212/7774