Dynamic Changes Of The Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor Levels In The Serum Of Patients With Acute Ischemic Cerebrovascular Disease And Its Significance

Objective:We measured the serum level of VEGF in acute cerebral ischemic stroke and attempted to study the relationship to infarct volume and offer referring standards of the future of VEGF gene therapy.Methods: Hospitalized patients with acute stroke in 46cases between Dec 1999 to Jan2001 as administrative group. Health people in 39 Cases as control group. We serial(at 1,7,14 day) measured the serum Levels of VEGF and infarct volume. Results: Expression of VEGF was significantly increased in the majority of patients after acute stroke at each of the time points compared with normal controls. highest expression occurred at day 7( 562±93Pg/ml)and it remained significantly elevated at 14 days after stroke .Expression of VEGF correlated with infarct volume.Conclusion: VEGF showed a dramatic increase in serum of stroke patients. Correlation between stroke severity and VEGF concentration suggests it could be involved in the　subsequent repair processes resulting in partial recovery after stroke. VEGF is a key mediator of angiogenesis, which is an important process leading to reperfusion of ischemic brain tissue after acute stroke. VEGF are likely play an important role in the cellular and molecular processes underlying wound healing and functional recovery after ischemic stroke. VEGF could protect neurons against excitotoxicity ,hypoxia,hypoglycemia,acidosis. VEGF play an important role in the pathophysiology of acute ischemic stroke and could be of value in the future treatment strategies. In the future VEGF could be gene therapy to decrease the infarct volume and improve the blood flow of the infarct penumbra area.