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Updated: Jun 28, 2026
A Simple Bioassay for the Evaluation of Vascular Endothelial Growth Factors
Published on: March 15, 2016
The expression of vascular endothelial growth factor and its receptors in port-wine stains
Emre Vural1, Jeevan Ramakrishnan, Neslihan Cetin
1Department of Otolaryngology-Head and Neck Surgery, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, 4301 West Markham, Little Rock, AR 72205, USA. vuralemrea@uams.edu
Objective:
To investigate the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor (VEGF-R2) in port-wine stains (PWSs).
Design:
An immunohistochemistry (IHC) study on formalin-fixed, paraffin-embedded specimens.
Methods:
Representative sections from surgical resection specimens of 12 PWS patients and 12 control specimens stained with routine IHC by using polyclonal anti-VEGF and anti-VEGF-R2 antibodies. Slides were evaluated semiquantitatively for the intensity of staining for VEGF and VEGF-R2 by using a scoring system varying from 0 to 3+.
Results:
PWS specimens showed statistically significant overexpression of both VEGF and VEGF-R2 molecules when compared with control specimens (P < 0.005).
Conclusions:
VEGF and its receptor may play an important role in the pathogenesis of PWS. It is possible that PWS may progress by hyperplasia in addition to hypertrophy. VEGF-R blockade may have a potential role as a targeted approach in the treatment of this disfiguring condition in the future.
