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Plasma VEGF (plasma + vegf)

Distribution by Scientific Domains

Medical Sciences	100%

Selected Abstracts

Clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with primary lung cancer

RESPIROLOGY, Issue 2 2002
IZUMI KISHIRO
Objective: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an angiogenesis factor closely associated with the growth and metastasis of malignant tumours. Methodology: In the present study, we measured plasma VEGF levels in 20 normal subjects (N), 35 patients with benign lung diseases (B), 28 patients with untreated advanced lung cancer (NT) and 10 patients with treated lung cancer (T). In addition, we measured the VEGF levels in pleural effusions from five patients with primary lung cancer and two patients with active infectious diseases. Vascular endothelial growth factor was measured by ELISA. Results: The mean (±SD) plasma VEGF level in NT patients (160.8 ± 177.4 pg/mL) was fivefold higher than that in other patient groups (T, 17.7 ± 4.9 pg/mL; B, 28.3 ± 17.6 pg/mL) and the N group (14.9 ± 7.0 pg/mL; P < 0.01). Vascular endothelial growth factor from lung cancer pleural effusions (17 526.0 ± 22 498.2 pg/mL) was 25-fold higher than that from patients with active infectious diseases (665.5 ± 259.0 pg/mL). Conclusions: Plasma VEGF may be a good clinical indicator for the assessment of primary lung cancer and pleural effusion VEGF in primary lung cancer is higher than pleural effusion VEGF in patients with inflammatory diseases. [source]

Mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells into the circulation in burned patients,

BRITISH JOURNAL OF SURGERY (NOW INCLUDES EUROPEAN JOURNAL OF SURGERY), Issue 2 2008
A. Fox
Background: Bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) have been detected in the peripheral blood of patients following thermal injury. EPCs migrate to sites of active neovascularization in response to mediators released after trauma, contributing to wound healing. The aim was to characterize levels and kinetics of EPCs in burned patients, then relate these to key mobilizing factors, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the chemokine (C-X-C motif) ligand 12 (CXCL 12), and compare them with those in healthy subjects. Methods: The study included 19 adult patients with superficial or full-thickness burns and 50 blood donor volunteer controls. EPCs, identified by cell surface markers CD45dim/,, CD133+, CD144+ and VEGF receptor 2, were quantified by four-colour flow cytometry. Plasma VEGF and CXCL12 were measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. Results: Burned patients showed a rapid rise in EPC levels within 24 h, a ninefold increase compared with controls, returning to basal levels by 72 h. Body surface area burned correlated strongly with the degree of mobilization. EPC levels correlated significantly with rises in plasma VEGF and CXCL12. Conclusion: Thermal injury induced a rapid rise in EPCs that was proportional to the extent of the burn and significantly correlated with levels of angiogenic cytokines. Such cytokines may be used to stimulate EPCs as a future therapeutic target in burned patients. Copyright © 2007 British Journal of Surgery Society Ltd. Published by John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [source]

Significance of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in hepatocellular carcinoma,

HEPATOLOGY, Issue 4 2006
Joanna W. Y. Ho
This study evaluated the significance of circulating bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma (HCC), a solid tumor with rich neovasculature. Eighty patients with HCC were recruited for the study, and 16 patients with liver cirrhosis and 14 healthy subjects were also included for comparison. Blood samples were taken before treatment. Total mononuclear cells were isolated from peripheral blood, preplated to eliminate mature circulating endothelial cells, and colony-forming units (CFUs) formed by circulating EPCs were counted. To validate the CFU scores, FACS quantification of EPCs using CD133, VEGFR2, and CD34 as markers was performed in 30 cases. Our study showed significantly higher mean CFU scores in patients with HCC compared to patients with cirrhosis and healthy controls (P = .001 and .009, respectively). Furthermore, the CFU scores of patients with HCC positively correlated with levels of serum ,-fetoprotein (r = .303, P = .017), plasma VEGF (r = .242, P = .035), and plasma interleukin-8 (IL-8) (r = .258, P = .025). Patients with unresectable HCC had higher CFU scores than patients with resectable tumors (P = .027). Furthermore, for those who underwent curative surgery, higher preoperative CFU scores were observed in patients with recurrence within 1 year compared with those who were disease-free after 1 year (P = .013). In conclusion, higher circulating levels of EPCs are seen in patients with advanced unresectable HCC as compared to patients with resectable HCC or those with liver cirrhosis. Our evidence supports the potential use of circulating level of EPCs as a prognostic marker in patients with HCC. (HEPATOLOGY 2006;44:836,843.) [source]

Changes of plasma vascular endothelial growth factor level after uterine artery embolisation for leiomyomata

BJOG : AN INTERNATIONAL JOURNAL OF OBSTETRICS & GYNAECOLOGY, Issue 10 2005
Takashi Takeda
Uterine artery embolisation (UAE) has become an alternative treatment for symptomatic uterine leiomyomata. Most reports suggest that it is well tolerated and effective, although there have been no reports of studies of biological parameters after UAE. In this study, we analysed the plasma level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and the pulsatility index (PI) of uterine arteries before and after UAE. The level of plasma VEGF increased significantly after UAE (on day 1 and day 3) and decreased on day 7, and then increased again on day 30. The level of VEGF reached a peak value within three days after UAE. A significant inverse correlation was found between uterine artery PI and the level of VEGF on day 30, suggesting that VEGF may have negative effect on the efficacy of treatment of uterine leiomyomata by UAE. [source]

Mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells into the circulation in burned patients,

Thalidomide for the Treatment of Refractory Multiple Myeloma: Association of Plasma Concentrations of Thalidomide and Angiogenic Growth Factors with Clinical Outcome

CANCER SCIENCE, Issue 9 2002
Tsunayuki Kakimoto
Recent reports showed that thalidomide has anti-angiogenic activity and is effective for the treatment of refractory multiple myeloma (MM). We examined the relationship between the clinical efficacy and adverse effects of thalidomide and the plasma concentrations of this drug as well as angiogenic growth factors in refractory MM. Ten out of twenty-four evaluable patients (42%) showed more than 25% reduction of M-protein, and eight (33%) achieved more than 50% reduction. These changes were associated with restoration of anemia and recovery of normal immunoglobulin level. Somnolence and headache, constipation, peripheral neuropathy and skin rash were frequently observed, but were well tolerated. However, grade 2,4 severe neutropenia was also observed in nine cases. These adverse effects other than neutropenia occurred more frequently in the patients with higher plasma concentrations of thalidomide (,2.0 ,g/ml at 12 h after the last administration) and were readily alleviated by dose reduction. In contrast, neutropenia developed regardless of the plasma concentration. Plasma concentrations of angiogenic growth factors were frequently elevated before treatment. After thalidomide treatment, these growth factor levels tend to decrease to near-normal ranges in responders but were still high in most non-responders. After thalidomide treatment, plasma vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) level was significantly reduced in responders (P=0.025), but not in non-responders (P=0.37). Reduction of plasma VEGF level might be an important indicator for anti-myeloma effect of thalidomide. [source]