Related Experiment Video
Updated: Jun 3, 2026
Preclinical Model of Hind Limb Ischemia in Diabetic Rabbits
Published on: June 2, 2019
Intramyocardial plasmid-encoding human vascular endothelial growth factor A165/basic fibroblast growth factor therapy
Krzysztof Kukuła1, Lidia Chojnowska, Maciej Dąbrowski
1Institute of Cardiology, Warsaw, Poland. kkukula@ikard.pl
Background:
VIF-CAD randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind trial was an attempt to induce therapeutic angiogenesis by percutaneous intramyocardial transfer of bicistronic (vascular endothelial growth factor/fibroblast growth factor [VEGF/FGF]) plasmid (pVIF) in patients with refractory heart ischemia. Myocardial perfusion, clinical symptoms, exercise tolerance, left ventricular function, and safety were assessed.
Methods:
Fifty-two patients with refractory coronary artery disease were randomized to receive VEGF/FGF plasmid (n = 33) or placebo plasmid (n = 19) into myocardial region showing stress-induced perfusion defects. Repeat stress and rest technetium Tc 99m sestamibi single-photon emission computed tomography at 5 months was the primary efficacy measure. Secondary assessment included Canadian Cardiovascular Society class and exercise tolerance at 5 and 12 months.
Results:
Rest- and stress-induced perfusion defects did not differ between groups. Canadian Cardiovascular Society functional class improved after 5 (P = .0210) and 12 months (P = .0607) in the treatment group. The exercise tolerance of treated patients improved: total exercise time increased marginally (P = .0541); maximum workload (P = .0419) and total test distance (P = .0473) increased significantly, compared to placebo.
Conclusion:
Bicistronic VEGF/FGF plasmid therapy did not improve myocardial perfusion measured by single-photon emission computed tomography. However, treated patients experienced improvement with respect to exercise tolerance and clinical symptoms. Intramyocardial VEGF/FGF bicistronic plasmid transfer seemed safe throughout the follow-up period of 1 year.
