Approximately 1% of patients with peripheral artery disease develop critical lower limb ischemia (CLI) with an unfavorable prognosis. Within one year after the diagnosis, more than 30% of patients with lower limb CLI require amputation [1][2][3][4].The development of endovascular treatment using angioplasty and stents have decreased the amputation rate among patients with CLI. HowCardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death in the Western world and the World Health Organization estimates that over 17 million people worldwide die of cardiovascular disorders each year [1]. There are more than 25 million people in Europe and the United States who have chronic ischemia affecting lower limbs caused by atherosclerotic lesions in the peripheral arteries. A -research concept and design; B -collection and/or assembly of data; C -data analysis and interpretation; D -writing the article; E -critical revision of the article; F -final approval of article
AbstractBackground. Chronic limb ischemia is a serious clinical problem. Patients who do not qualify for standard treatment may benefit from novel gene therapies. Objectives. This study evaluated angiogenesis following intramuscular injections of angiogenic plasmid Ang-1 in Fisher rats. Material and Methods. Twenty rats had plasmids injected intramuscularly in their hind limbs. The study group consisted of 10 animals which received the Ang-1 plasmid, while the control group consisted of 10 rats that received an empty plasmid. All the animals were euthanized after 12 weeks and tissue samples from the hind limb thigh muscles and internal organs were harvested for histological and immunohistochemical examinations. To assess the angiogenesis the number of vessels in the hind limb muscles visualized by the SMA and FVIII markers was counted for each animal in five separate microscopic fields. Results. There were no pathological lesions or any signs of neoplastic angiogenesis in any of the 20 rats. The number of vessels visualized by the FVIII marker in the study group was two times higher than in the control group (median: 12, range: 7-25 vs. median: 6, range: 2-15; p < 0.0001). The median estimated that the number of vessels visualized by the SMA marker is 63% higher in the study group compared to the control group (median: 6.5, range: 1-12 vs. median: 4, range: 0-10; p = 0.0008). Conclusions. Intramuscular injections of Ang-1 plasmids induced angiogenesis in the rat hind limb muscles (Adv Clin Exp Med 2016, 25, 4, 611-615).