This article has been peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance.It is an open access article, which means that it can be downloaded, printed, and distributed freely, provided the work is properly cited. Articles in "Folia Morphologica" are listed in PubMed.

BACKGROUND: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a signalling protein of critical importance for angiogenesis. In an effort to better understand its signifi cance in hypertension-induced injury of the heart and kidney we aimed at studying the changes in its expression in an experimental model and correlated it with capillary density in the myocardium and the renal parenchyma. METHODS: We used two age groups of spontaneously hypertensive rats (6-and 12-month-old), indicative of early and advanced hypertension. VEGF expression was assessed and a semi-quantitative analysis of its immunoreactivity was conducted. Changes in capillary density in the myocardium and kidney were assessed for statistical signifi cance and correlations with VEGF expression were established. RESULTS: We reported stronger VEGF expression in animals with early compared to advanced hypertension in all examined structures. Capillary density decreased signifi cantly at age 12 months compared to 6 months and was signifi cant in all examined structures. A positive correlation was established between capillary density and the expression of VEGF. CONCLUSION: These fi ndings underscore the key signifi cance of VEGF for compensatory angiogenesis and suggest that a statistically signifi cant depletion of these vascular adaptive mechanisms is a major aspect in the cascade of hypertension-induced injury of the heart and kidney (Tab. 3, Fig. 26, Ref. 47).

This article has been peer reviewed and published immediately upon acceptance.It is an open access article, which means that it can be downloaded, printed, and distributed freely, provided the work is properly cited. Articles in "Folia Morphologica" are listed in PubMed.

The metopic suture is a mid-sagittal plane variant of cranial syndesmosis, visualized from the nasion to the bregma. In most cases, the metopic suture closes during the first year of age; however, there are rare occurrences of persisting metopic suture in adults. Metopism is caused by incomplete fusion of the two embryological halves of the frontal bone. Usually, skull entry gunshot wounds are round or oval in shape and leave characteristic marks on the bone. Exit gunshot wounds to the skull are larger and more irregular. Herein we present a rare case of a human skull with a gunshot wound causing a traumatic diastasis of a complete, persisting metopic suture found during forensic examination. The gunshot wounds of the skull increase intracranial tension pressure and as a result an opening on the level of the nasion and nasofrontal suture was observed.

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a signaling protein essential for angiogenesis. Despite vigorous research in the field for several decades, the exact role of VEGF in the sophisticated regulatory mechanisms of cardiac and renal homeostasis still remains to be fully elucidated. Recent studies have reported that the expression of VEGF in the heart and kidneys changes with age, which leads to modifications in the microvasculature and age-related remodeling of the myocardium and renal parenchyma. Furthermore, literature data suggest that the levels of VEGF are altered in response to hypertensive injury, which plays a crucial role in the pathogenesis and progression of multiple cardiac and renal pathologies. Therefore, this review strives to assess the accessible literature and provide clarity on the role of VEGF in the complex signaling cascades responsible for maintaining cardiac and renal homeostasis both under physiological and pathological conditions.