| Objective: To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transforming growth factor-alpha (TGF-a ) in the myocardium , glomeruli and brain of hypertension, and to elucidate the relationship between VEGF or TGF-a and microvascular remodeling.Materials and methods: We selected respectively 15 spontaneously hypertensive rats (SHR) and Wistar-Kyoto (WKY) rats at the age of 12 months, and 10 SHR and WKY rats at the age of 6 weeks in random .The immunohistochemical S-P method was used to examine the expression of VEGF and TGF-a in the myocardium, glomeruli and brain of SHR and-WKY rats. The positive signals were analysed by Motic images analysis system and treated by one-way analysis of variance.Results:1 The immunoactivity of VEGF and TGF- a in the myocardium, glomeruli and brain of 12m SHR was greatly increased than that of the other three groups (p<0. 05) .However there was no obvious difference between the 12m WKY and 6w WKY, the 6w WKY and 6w SHR (p>0. 05) .2 The chief immunoactivity of VEGF was present in the cardiac myocytes, vascular smooth muscle cells and th'e podocytes of glomeruli. It also distributed in the cerebral cortex, corpus striatum, ependyma and choroid plexus.3 The positive products of TGF-a can be observed in the cardiac myocytes, podocytes and mesangial cells of glomeruli. They also expressed in the cerebral cortex, thalamus, red nucleus, midbraintegmentum, pontine reticular nucleus and cerebellar cortex.Conclusions: The expression of VEGF and TGF-a increased in the myocardium , glomeruli and brain of adult SHR (hypertension formed), but there was no obvious difference in the young SHR (hypertension unformed), young and adult WKY rats. The upregulation of them might be closely related to the rise of blood pressure. So we inferred that they can participate in the microvascular remodeling of hypertension by some means, and affect the structure and function of target organs.
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