The therapeutic angiogenesis with the use of vascular endothelial growth factors gene in the myocardium of miniature swine

Objective: To evaluate the effect of vascular endothelial growth factor 165（VEGF165） on enhancing collateral vessel formation of the coronary artery（CA） and improving regional perfusion and function of the heart Methods:On a miniature swine model of chronic myocardial ischemia,adenovirus vector expressing recombinant human VEGF165 complementary deoxyribonucleic acid（cDNA）Ad VEGF165 or expressing β galactosidasecDNA（Ad gal）was administered directly into the myocardium in the left circumflex（LCX）distribution Myocardial perfusion and function were assessed by ECG gated single photon emission computed tomography （SPECT） imaging and collateral vessel development ofCA was assessed by ex vivo coronary angiography（CAG） Results:SPECT imaging 4 weeks after Ad VEGF165 administration demonstrated significant reduction in ischemic area（P＜0. 01） and rest ischemic severity（P＜0. 01）and significant improvement in left ventricular ejection fraction（P＜0. 01） and the regional wall motion in the LCXdistribution （P＜0. 05） compared with that of control animals and that before administration of Ad VEGF165 Collateral vessel development by CAG with Rentrop Grading was also significantly greater in Ad VEGF165 animals than in the Ad gal control animals（P＜0. 05） Conclusion:Ad VEGF165 induces collateral vessel development in ischemic myocardium and results in significant improvement in myocardial perfusion as well as function