Vol. 284, Issue 5, H1507-H1512, May 2003
TRANSLATIONAL PHYSIOLOGY
Evidence for association of coronary sinus levels of hepatocyte
growth factor and collateralization in human coronary disease
Daniel J.
Lenihan1,
Abdulfatah
Osman2,
Vissa
Sriram2,
Julius
Aitsebaomo3, and
Cam
Patterson3
1 Cardiovascular Specialists of Texas, Texas City,
77565; 2 Division of Cardiology, The University of
Texas Medical Branch at Galveston, Galveston, Texas
77555; 3 Carolina Cardiovascular Biology Center and
Departments of Medicine, Pharmacology, and Cell and Developmental
Biology, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel
Hill, North Carolina 27599-7075
The therapeutic use of angiogenic
factors to protect ischemic myocardium is limited by our
incomplete understanding of their endogenous production. We determined
the association between angiogenic factors and collateral formation in
patients with coronary artery disease (CAD). A total of 71 patients
underwent catheterization with sampling of the pulmonary artery, aorta,
and coronary sinus (CS) to determine the levels of vascular endothelial
growth factor (VEGF) and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). VEGF and HGF
levels were not different in the three vascular sites, suggesting that the heart is not a major source of these cytokines in the circulation. CS VEGF and HGF levels were similar in patients with and without CAD.
Elevated CS HGF levels were associated with collateral formation, whereas VEGF levels were not. Additionally, CS HGF was significantly elevated in patients with left ventricular dysfunction. These data map
for the first time the concentration of endogenous angiogenic factors
in the coronary circulation and support further studies to determine
whether HGF may be an endogenous cardioprotective angiogenic factor.
endothelial growth factors; ischemia; angiogenesis
