title: The Formation of Blood Vessel After the Administration of the Plasmid Encoding Ang-1 Gene in Fischer Rats.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Chronic limb ischemia is a serious clinical problem. Patients who do not qualify for standard treatment may benefit from novel gene therapies.
  
  
  OBJECTIVE
  This study evaluated angiogenesis following intramuscular injections of angiogenic plasmid Ang-1 in Fisher rats.
  
  
  METHODS
  Twenty rats had plasmids injected intramuscularly in their hind limbs. The study group consisted of 10 animals which received the Ang-1 plasmid, while the control group consisted of 10 rats that received an empty plasmid. All the animals were euthanized after 12 weeks and tissue samples from the hind limb thigh muscles and internal organs were harvested for histological and immunohistochemical examinations. To assess the angiogenesis the number of vessels in the hind limb muscles visualized by the SMA and FVIII markers was counted for each animal in five separate microscopic fields.
  
  
  RESULTS
  There were no pathological lesions or any signs of neoplastic angiogenesis in any of the 20 rats. The number of vessels visualized by the FVIII marker in the study group was two times higher than in the control group (median: 12, range: 7-25 vs. median: 6, range: 2-15; p < 0.0001). The median estimated that the number of vessels visualized by the SMA marker is 63% higher in the study group compared to the control group (median: 6.5, range: 1-12 vs. median: 4, range: 0-10; p = 0.0008).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Intramuscular injections of Ang-1 plasmids induced angiogenesis in the rat hind limb muscles.
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular, General and Transplantation Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Jan P
authors.initials: JP
authors.lastname: Skóra
authors.affiliation: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Tomasz
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Płonek
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular, General and Transplantation Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Piotr
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Barć
authors.affiliation: Department of Forensic Medicine, Molecular Techniques Unit, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.|Wrovasc - Integrated Cardiovascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Centre, Poland.
authors.forename: Dagmara
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Baczyńska
authors.affiliation: Wrovasc - Integrated Cardiovascular Centre, Regional Specialist Hospital in Wrocław, Research and Development Centre, Poland.
authors.forename: Agata
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Radwańska
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular, General and Transplantation Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Artur
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Pupka
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular, General and Transplantation Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Krzysztof
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Korta
authors.affiliation: Department of Pediatric BMT, Oncology and Hematology, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Marek
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Ussowicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Anaesthesiology and Intensive Therapy, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Łukasz
authors.initials: Ł
authors.lastname: Strożecki
authors.affiliation: Department of Vascular, General and Transplantation Surgery, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Diana
authors.initials: D
authors.lastname: Kupczyńska-Markiewicz
authors.affiliation: Department of Pathology, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland.
authors.forename: Agnieszka
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Hałoń
mesh_terms: D042683:Angiopoietin-1 / Q000378:metabolism*; D000818:Animals; D006614:Hindlimb / Q000098:blood supply; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D010957:Plasmids; D051381:Rats; D011916:Rats, Inbred F344
chemical_list: D042683:Angiopoietin-1
keywords: angiogenesis; lower limb ischemia; proangiogenic factors; rats