OBJECTIVELooking for an objective biomedical index to distinguish types and phases of hemangioma in order to provide an objective basis for selecting clinical treatment to hemangioma.

METHODSELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) was used to determine serum VEGF concentration of 15 patients with proliferative hemangioma, 6 with involuted hemangioma, 6 with vascular malformation and 8 infants of the control group.

RESULTSThe serum VEGF concentrations of 15 proliferative hemangioma patients were significantly higher than those of involuted hemangioma patients, vascular malformation patients and control group infants. The serum VEGF concentrations of involuted hemangioma patients were a little bit higher than those of vascular malformation patients and control group infants, but without statistic significance.

CONCLUSIONSELISA could easily and accurately determine the serum VEGF concentration of different types and different phases of hemangioma. The determination of serum VEGF concentration could provide guidance for selecting a protocol of systemic corticosteroid treatment for proliferative hemangioma. Combined with gene expression and distribution of VEGF and its receptors and some other cytokines, the determination of serum VEGF concentration could help elucidate the mechanism of proliferative hemangioma.

Endothelial Growth Factors ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Hemangioma ; blood ; Humans ; Infant ; Lymphokines ; blood ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

OBJECTIVESTo determine the pre-therapeutic serum level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC) and to elucidate the relation between the serum level and clinical characteristics and metastasis of HCC.

METHODSOne-hundred and fifteen HCC patients, 40 patients with benign liver lesions, and 30 healthy control subjects were included in this study. The serum VEGF level was measured with the quantitative sandwich enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA, R&D systems).

RESULTSThe serum VEGF levels in the HCC group (465.62 +/- 336.24 pg/ml) was significantly elevated as compared with those in patients with benign liver lesions (159.54 +/- 120.58 pg/ml) and those in normal controls (123.53 +/- 51.84 pg/ml). The VEGF levels were not significantly different between the patients with benign liver lesions and the normal controls. The serum VEGF levels showed a positive rate of 77.4%, 25%, and 3.3% in the HCC patients, benign liver lesion patients and normal controls, respectively. In the 115 HCC patients, the serum VEGF levels in patients with portal vein (PV) emboli (n = 26, 582.76 +/- 441.89 pg/ml), with metastasis (n = 43, 548.29 +/- 438.57 pg/ml) or with large HCC lesions (>/= 5 cm in diameter) (n = 69, 554.43 +/- 369.99 pg/ml) were significantly higher than those without PV-emboli (n = 89, 431.39 +/- 292.84 pg/ml), without metastasis (n = 72, 416.24 +/- 247.27 pg/ml) or with small HCC lesions (n = 42, 328.67 +/- 227.47 pg/ml). The serum VEGF levels in stage I, II, III, IVa and IVb HCC patients were 340.6 pg/ml, 451.55 +/- 307.84 pg/ml, 397.44 +/- 257.18 pg/ml, 486.10 +/- 397.73 pg/ml and 647.93 +/- 344.56 pg/ml, respectively.

CONCLUSIONThe pre-therapeutic serum VEGF levels in HCC patients appear to reflect the disease's potential activity of vascular invasion and metastasis.

Adult ; Aged ; Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; pathology ; Endothelial Growth Factors ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; blood ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; pathology ; Lymphokines ; blood ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Neoplasm Metastasis ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

Carcinoma, Hepatocellular ; blood ; blood supply ; Endothelin-1 ; blood ; Female ; Humans ; Liver Neoplasms ; blood ; blood supply ; Male ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; metabolism ; Nitric Oxide ; blood ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors ; blood

Angiogenesis is a necessary step in tumor progression, and it correlates an unfavorable prognosis. In multiple myeloma, bone marrow microvessel density and angiogenesis grading correlated with plasma cell labeling index and are poor survival predictors, but the study of myeloma's angiogenesis is very rare. This article was to study the effect of multiple myeloma cell line conditioned media on the proliferation, migration and angiogenesis of human bone marrow endothelial cells (HBMEC). The multiple myeloma cell line conditioned media were obtained by using RPMI 1640 media containing 2% fetal bovine serum (FBS) to cultivate myeloma cell lines for 18 hours. Proliferation and migration of HBMEC were detected by using those media to cultivate HBMEC. Capillary tube formation was performed by using microcarriers cytodex-3 covered with HBMEC in three-dimensional fibrin matrices. The results showed that myeloma conditioned media induced HBMEC's proliferation and migration (P < 0.001), and those media induced capillary tube formation (length and width) of HBMEC (P < 0.001). It was concluded that myeloma cell lines induce HBMEC's proliferation, migration, and capillary tube formation by secreting several cytokines.
Bone Marrow Cells ; cytology ; Cell Division ; Cell Movement ; Endothelial Growth Factors ; analysis ; physiology ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; analysis ; physiology ; Lymphokines ; analysis ; physiology ; Multiple Myeloma ; blood supply ; chemistry ; pathology ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; etiology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

OBJECTIVETo observe microvessel density(MVD), epithelial stromal vascular cuffing(VC) and expression of vascular endothelial growth factor(VEGF) in human cervical carcinomas and to clarify their significance in the invasion and metastasis of cervical carcinoma.

METHODSVEGF and CD34 were stained immunohistochemically (SP) in 57 cases of cervical carcinoma (30 cases of squamous cell carcinoma, 20 of adenocarcinoma 7 of glandular and squamous cell carcinoma), 29 cases of cervical intraepithelial neoplasia (CIN) and 16 cases of normal cervices, meanwhile, MVD and VC were also assayed.

RESULTSThere were significant differences among the above 5 groups for MVD P<0.01 . The VC pattern showed a significant difference between cervical carcinoma and CIN or control group P<0.01). The positive rates of VEGF in normal cervical epithelium, CIN, squamous cell carcinoma, adenocarcinoma, glandular and squamous cell carcinoma were 18.8% 3/16, 82.8% 24/29), 93.3% 28/30), 100% 20/20 and 7/7(100%), respectively. There were significant differences between these cervical lesion groups and the control group(P<0.001). The MVD showed significant differences between the positive pelvic node metastasis and negative pelvic node metastasis P<0.05). There was no significant correlation between the expression of VEGF and the tumor diameter, clinical stage, pathologic grade and pelvic node metastasis.

CONCLUSIONThe expression of VEGF may play an important role in the angiogenesis of cervical carcinoma. Degree of malignancy of cervical carcinoma has a close association with microvessel density.

Adult ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Endothelial Growth Factors ; analysis ; Female ; Humans ; Intercellular Signaling Peptides and Proteins ; analysis ; Lymphatic Metastasis ; Lymphokines ; analysis ; Microcirculation ; Middle Aged ; Uterine Cervical Neoplasms ; blood supply ; chemistry ; pathology ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a protein secreted by cells to stimulate angiogenesis, a complex biological phenomenon essential for the development of new blood vessels. Aberrant angiogenesis has been implicated in various retinal diseases such as age-related macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusion. Ever since the concept of angiogenesis was first introduced by Judah Folkman, and its crucial role in the pathophysiology of retinal diseases was elucidated by many scientists, much effort focused on identifying treatments has led to the development of anti-VEGF agents, which have become a critical component in the treatment of various retinal diseases associated with pathological angiogenesis. The application of various anti-VEGF agents has achieved not only the resolution of pathological lesions associated with aberrant angiogenesis, but also an improvement of visual acuity unattainable with conventional treatment modalities. Despite these major accomplishments with the use of anti-VEGF agents, there are still issues remaining to be addressed, such as how to treat non-responders to anti-VEGF agents, the need for repeated injections, and the economic burden on patients. This review highlights the outcomes from major clinical trials investigating the efficacy and safety of various anti-VEGF agents that are currently available and how they can be utilized in the daily clinical setting.
Bevacizumab ; Biological Phenomena ; Blood Vessels ; Diabetic Retinopathy ; Endothelial Growth Factors* ; Humans ; Macular Degeneration ; Neovascularization, Pathologic ; Ranibizumab ; Retinal Diseases* ; Retinal Vein Occlusion ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; Visual Acuity

OBJECTIVETo explore the relationships of serum vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endometrial cancer of Uighur Women in Xinjiang.

METHODSThe serum of 50 endometrial cancer patient's and 70 healthy women' s were collected. VEGF expressions were tested by ELISA method and the correlations of endometrial cancer with VEGF were analysed. The variety of serum VEGF in different clinical stages of endometrial cancer was analyzed.

RESULTSSerum VEGF expressions on endometrial cancer were significantly higher than normal ones (P < 0.01); The serum VEGF level in late stage was significantly higher than early stage (P < 0.01). The serum VEGF level significantly increased from well differentiated to the poorly differentiated cases (P < 0.05).

CONCLUSIONhigh level expressions of VEGF are related to the endometrial cancer. Uighur Women in Xinjiang, particularly high expressed in advanced and poorly differentiated endometrial cancer.

Adult ; Aged ; China ; Endometrial Neoplasms ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Humans ; Middle Aged ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors ; blood

Interleukin (IL)-8 and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are important factors that induce the migration and proliferation of endothelial cells, increase the vascular permeability, and the modulate chemotaxis of monocytes. These molecules have been found in human atherosclerotic plaques. However, it is not clear whether the circulating levels of IL-8 and VEGF correlate with the extents of carotid stenosis. In this study, we investigated the relationship between circulating levels of IL-8 as well as VEGF and the extents of carotid stenosis. Sera from 41 patients with carotid stenosis were assessed for concentrations of IL-8 and VEGF by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. The degree of stenosis of extracranial carotid artery was calibrated by carotid B- mode ultrasonography. The serum concentration of IL-8 (r=-0.04733, p>0.05) was not correlated with the degree of stenosis. However, the serum concentration of VEGF (r=0.4974, p<0.01) was significantly correlated with the degree of carotid stenosis. These findings suggest that increased serum level of VEGF might be a marker for higher degree of stenosis of extracranial carotid artery.
Adult ; Aged ; Carotid Artery Diseases/blood ; Carotid Stenosis/*blood ; Disease Progression ; Endothelial Growth Factors/*blood ; Female ; Human ; Interleukin-8/*blood ; Lymphokines/*blood ; Male ; Middle Age

OBJECTIVETo investigate the effect of storage time on accumulation of platelet-related growth factors in the supernatant of leukoreduced packed red blood cells (LR-pRBC) and on tumor cell proliferation in vitro.

METHODSLR-pRBC were quartered and stored at 2 °C-6 °C. The supernatant of pRBC was obtained by centrifugation with 1 006 × g for 10 min at day 0, 14, 21 and 35 d. The enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to detect the expression of platelet-derived growth factor(PDGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF). After HepG2 cells was cultured with the supernatant of LR pRBC at day 0 and day 35 together for 48 hours, methylthiazoliltetracolium (MTT) method was used to measure the proliferation of tumor cells in vitro.

RESULTSThe concentrations of 2 cytokines were still increased with the storage time prolonging. As compared to LR-pRBC at day 0 [611.84 (95%CI, 356.45-867.23) pg/ml], the level of VEGF reached 900.16 (95% CI, 552.26-1248.07) pg/ml (P<0.05). There was a similar tendency in PDGF level with less increment in the supernatant of LR pRBC at day 35 [2.23 (95% CI, 0-5.37) ng/L vs 5.66 (95% CI, 0-12.48), P=0.073], but there was no significant statistical difference. Likewise, in vitro study of HepG2 cell proliferation showed that the LR-pRBC at day 35 promoted more proliferation of tumor cells with OD value 0.40 (95% CI, 0.38-0.42) (P<0.05).

CONCLUSIONThe residual platelets in LR-pRBC were activated, disintegrated and released the dense granules and α-granules which induce the accumulation of VEGF and PDGF. It seemed that the supernatant of LR-pRBC promoted the proliferation of tumor cells in vitro.

Blood Platelets ; Blood Preservation ; Cell Proliferation ; Cytokines ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Humans ; In Vitro Techniques ; Platelet-Derived Growth Factor ; Time Factors ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A

OBJECTIVETo investigate the changes in plasma levels of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and stromal cell-derived factor-1 (SDF-1) and in peripheral CD34(+) cells in patients with acute myocardial infarction (AMI), and explore their role in AMI.

METHODSEnzyme-linked immunoassay (ELISA) was employed for measuring the levels of VEGF and SDF-1 in AMI patients on days 1, 3, 7, 10, and 14 of onset and in normal control subjects. The absolute counts of CD34(+) in the peripheral blood were measured on days 1, 7, and 14 by flow cytometry in AMI patients, with their myocardial enzyme and troponin I detected and electrocardiography (ECG) and echocardiography (UCG) recorded.

RESULTSPeripheral CD34(+) cells obviously increased on day 7 after AMI onset (2.35-/+0.72/microl vs 1.48-/+0.49/micro, P<0.05). VEGF levels were significantly higher in AMI patients than in the control subjects, reaching the peak level and on day 14 (197.56-/+39.87 vs 53.79-/+18.12 pg/ml, P<0.01). SDF-1 level obviously decreased on day 1 after AMI onset (1683.12-/+224.79 vs 2178.67-/+265.34 pg/ml, P<0.01), followed by gradually increased to the control level. Obvious correlation was noted between the level of VEGF on day 7 and the peak level of peripheral CD34(+) cells, and the peak plasma VEGF level was obviously associated with the peak serum CK-MB and troponin I levels.

CONCLUSIONThe stem cells are mobilized into the peripheral blood in the event of AMI. Obviously increased VEGF level following AMI may persist for at least 2 weeks, whereas SDF-1 level undergoes temporary decrement after AMI. The dynamic changes of VEGF and SDF-1 can be related to the mobilization and homing of the stem cells to the injured myocardium.

Adult ; Antigens, CD34 ; blood ; Chemokine CXCL12 ; blood ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Female ; Flow Cytometry ; Humans ; Male ; Myocardial Infarction ; blood ; Time Factors ; Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A ; blood