Transplantation of heart cells transfected with VEGF into a myocardial scar significantly increased capillary density compared to untransfected cells and control medium (6.3 vs 3.9 vs 1.1; P=0.0002).
Does transplantation of heart cells transfected with VEGF improve angiogenesis and regional blood flow in rats with myocardial scar?
Transplantation of heart cells transfected with VEGF induced greater angiogenesis and improved regional blood flow in a rat model of myocardial scar compared to unmodified cells.
Absolute Event Rate: 6.3% vs 1.1%
p-value: p=0.0002
UNLABELLED: BACKGROUND The combination of myocardial cell transplantation and angiogenic gene transfer may improve postinfarction left ventricular (LV) perfusion. We evaluated the angiogenic effect of heart cells transfected with vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and transplanted into a myocardial scar. METHODS AND RESULTS: Donor rat heart cells were transfected with plasmids encoding VEGF(165) and green fluorescence protein. Syngeneic adult rats underwent LV cryoinjury to create a transmural scar. Three weeks later, 4x10(6) transfected heart cells (n=14), untransfected heart cells (n=13), or culture medium (n=16) were transplanted into the center of the scar. After 5 weeks, LV function, quantitative histology, and regional blood flow were evaluated. Plates of heart cells transfected with VEGF(165) produced 6.1 times more intracellular VEGF than nontransfected cells. Capillary density (mean+/-SEM) per high-power field in the center of the myocardial scar was 1.1+/-0.02 in control rats, 3.9+/-0.11 in untransfected rats, and 6.3+/-0.11 in transfected rats (P=0.0002). Capillary density in the border zone around the scar was 1.9+/-0.03 in control rats, 6.4+/-0.10 in untransfected rats, and 8.7+/-0.16 in transfected rats (P=0.004). Regional blood flow within the scar was 8.8+/-0.8% of normalized flow in control hearts, 10.4+/-0.7% in hearts transplanted with untransfected cells, but 17.6+/-1.2% in hearts transplanted with transfected cells (P=0.03 versus control, P=0.07 versus nontransfected). There was no difference in LV function attributable to transplantation with transfected cells at the time point studied. CONCLUSIONS: Transplantation of heart cells transfected with VEGF induced greater angiogenesis than transplantation of unmodified cells. Combined gene transfer and cell transplantation strategies may improve postinfarction LV perfusion and function.
Yau et al. (Tue,) conducted a other in Myocardial scar (n=43). Heart cells transfected with VEGF(165) vs. Untransfected heart cells or culture medium was evaluated on Capillary density per high-power field in the center of the myocardial scar (p=0.0002). Transplantation of heart cells transfected with VEGF into a myocardial scar significantly increased capillary density compared to untransfected cells and control medium (6.3 vs 3.9 vs 1.1; P=0.0002).