Effect of Angiogenesis Induced by Consecutive Intramuscular Injections of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor in a Hindlimb Ischemic Mouse Model

• Published in: Nuclear medicine and molecular imaging Vol. 48; no. 3; pp. 225 - 229
• Main Authors: Lee, Tai Kyoung, Hwang, Hyosook, Na, Kyung Sook, Kwon, JeongIl, Jeong, Hwan-Seok, Oh, Philsun, Kim, Hee Kwon, Lim, Seok Tae, Sohn, Myung-Hee, Jeong, Hwan-Jeong, Lee, Chang-Moon
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.09.2014; 대한핵의학회
• Subjects: Cardiology; Imaging; Medicine; Medicine & Public Health; Nuclear Medicine; Oncology; Original; Original Article; Orthopedics; Radiology; 방사선과학; Consecutive injection; Angiogenesis; Hindlimb ischemia; Gamma imaging; Perfusion; VEGF
• ISSN: 1869-3474; 1869-3482
• DOI: 10.1007/s13139-014-0273-5

Purpose Angiogenesis plays a major role in various physiological and pathological situations. Thus, an angiogenic therapy with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) has been commonly recommended as a representative therapeutic solution to recover the insufficient blood supply of collateral vessels in an ischemic lesion. In this study, the injection method and injection time point of VEGF proteins were focused to discover how to enhance the angiogenic effect with VEGF. Methods Mouse models ( n  = 15) were divided into control, VEGF treatment by intra-venous injection (VEGF-IV) and VEGF treatment by intra-muscular injection (VEGF-IM). Right proximal femoral arteries of mice were firmly sutured to obstruct arterial blood-flow. In the VEGF-IV treatment group, VEGF proteins were injected into the tail vein and, in the VEGF-IM treatment group, VEGF proteins were directly injected into the ischemic site of the right thigh after postoperative day 5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 follow-ups. Blood-flow images were acquired by 99m Tc Gamma Image Acquisition System to compare the ischemic-to-non-ischemic bloodstream ratio at postoperative days 5, 15, and 30. Results VEGF-IM treatment significantly induced higher an angiogenic effect rather than both the control group ( P  = 0.008) and VEGF-IV treatment group ( P  = 0.039) at the 30th day. Conclusion During all experiments, angiogenesis of VEGF-IM treatment represented the most evident effect compared with control and VEGF-IV group in a mouse model of hindlimb ischemia.