Adenovirus-mediated angiopoietin-1 gene therapy enhances skin flap survival.
This experimental study investigates the feasibility of pretreating the abdominal skin of a rat with subdermal injections of adenovirus encoding angiopoietin-1 in order to improve postoperative survival of the skin flap. An epigastric skin flap was used as the model in this study. Rats received subdermal injections of adenovirus encoding either angiopoietin-1 (treatment group) or green fluorescent protein (treatment control), or they received no treatment (control group). Subdermal injections were made 2 days prior to surgery, and skin flap survival was assessed 7 days afterwards as a percentage of necrotic area over total skin flap area. The treatment group which received adenovirus-mediated angiopoietin-1 had a median percent necrotic area of 11.01%, a significant decrease from the control group, which had a median percent necrotic area of 32.24% (P < 0.001). The results of this study suggest the possibility of using adenovirus-mediated angiopoietin-1 gene therapy to promote therapeutic angiogenesis in patients who undergo reconstructive procedures.
Jung
Howard
H
Department of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Cleveland Clinic Foundation, Cleveland, OH 44195, USA.
Gurunluoglu
Raffi
R
Scharpf
Joe
J
Siemionow
Maria
M
D000256:Adenoviridae / Q000235:genetics*; D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000235:genetics / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D000818:Animals; D062109:Dermatologic Surgical Procedures; D015316:Genetic Therapy; D006085:Graft Survival; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins / Q000627:therapeutic use; D008297:Male; D051381:Rats; D017207:Rats, Sprague-Dawley; D013524:Surgical Flaps
D042683:Angiopoietin-1; D007202:Indicators and Reagents; D008164:Luminescent Proteins; D049452:Green Fluorescent Proteins