[Angiogenic gene therapy for ischemic heart disease]

Once myocardium is under hypoxia due to narrowing of coronary arteries, the myocardium produces angiogenic peptides such as fibroblast growth factors to develop collaterals to restore the blood supply to its ischemic region. Thus, if angiogenic growth factors are supplied exogenously, the development of collaterals should be facilitated, and may save myocardium from hypoxia, thereby enhancing heart function. In addition to the experiments using recombinant protein of angiogenic factors, recent reports showed that gene transfer of such angiogenic factors indeed restored blood supply into ischemic myocardium and enhanced its function, suggesting such approach being an effective new strategy for the treatment of ischemic heart disease. This brief review summarizes recent progress of angiogenic therapy.