Vascular endothelial growth factor enhances atherosclerotic plaque progression.

摘要: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) can promote angiogenesis but may also exert certain effects to alter the rate of atherosclerotic plaque development. To evaluate this potential impact on progression, we treated cholesterol-fed mice doubly deficient in apolipoprotein E/apolipoprotein B100 with low doses VEGF (2 microg/kg) or albumin. significantly increased macrophage levels bone marrow and peripheral blood area 5-, 14- 4-fold compared controls at weeks 1, 2 3, respectively. Plaque cell content disproportionately over controls. In order confirm that VEGF-mediated progression was not species-specific, experiment repeated rabbits three-week timepoint, which showed comparable increases progression.