Effect of endothelial growth factor on postinfarction remodeling of rat myocardium

The reparative processes in the myocardium were studied during the postinfarction period after intracardiac injection of vascular endothelial growth factor. The cytoprotective and mitogenic effects of increased concentration of vascular endothelial growth factor on cardiomyocytes were revealed: viable muscle cells were present in the myocardial necrotic zone over 3 days, while cardiomyocytes in the periinfarction zone exhibited mitotic activity of within 7 days after infarction modeling. One of the main morphogenetic effects of high concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor is stimulation of angiogenesis in all zones of the infarcted myocardium. On the other hand, injection of exogenous vascular endothelial growth factor stimulated collagen formation processes in the infarction zone (a 44% increase of the volume of collagen fibers) and formation of cardiosclerosis foci in neoangiogenesis zones in the intact myocardium, which is an unfavorable side effect of high concentrations of vascular endothelial growth factor.