title: Vascular endothelial growth factor in patients with high-altitude pulmonary edema.
abstract: To examine the role of VEGF in the pathogenesis of high-altitude pulmonary edema (HAPE), we measured the concentrations of VEGF in venous serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with HAPE and in healthy volunteers. The VEGF in venous serum of the patients was normal at admission and significantly increased at recovery. Similarly, the VEGF in bronchoalveolar lavage fluid of the patients was increased at recovery compared with admission, but values at both admission and recovery were significantly lower than those of the controls. The present finding suggests that VEGF probably is destroyed in the lung of HAPE, and it appears less likely to have a critical part in the pathogenesis of HAPE but has rather an important role in the repair process for the impaired cell layer.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Medicine, Shinshu University School of Medicine, Matsumoto 390-8621, Japan. masayuki@hsp.md.shinshu-u.ac.jp
authors.forename: Masayuki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Hanaoka
authors.forename: Yunden
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Droma
authors.forename: Atsuhiko
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Naramoto
authors.forename: Takayuki
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Honda
authors.forename: Toshio
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kobayashi
authors.forename: Keishi
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Kubo
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000532:Altitude Sickness / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D006801:Humans; D007958:Leukocyte Count; D008297:Male; D011654:Pulmonary Edema / Q000378:metabolism* / Q000503:physiopathology; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*
chemical_list: D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D002097:C-Reactive Protein