The relationship between severity of coronary artery disease and plasma level of vascular endothelial growth factor.

Abstract Objective It has been known that ischemia or occlusion of coronary arteries in animal models increases the production of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF); however, little is known about the relationship between coronary artery disease and VEGF in humans. In this study, our aim was to evaluate the relationships between the degree of coronary occlusion and plasma VEGF level as well as other risk factors, including age, weight, arterial blood pressure, cholesterol, triglyceride, blood glucose, and high-sensitive C-reactive protein (hsCRP) in patients with established coronary artery disease. Materials and Methods Our study group consisted of 77 patients. Of these, 38 patients had normal coronary angiography (control group; group C) and 39 had abnormal angiography (17 critical lesion; group CL, 22 noncritical lesion; non-CL group). Results Plasma VEGF level was 116.95±30.12 pg/ml in the control group, 212.47±75.28 pg/ml in group CL, and 138.89±45.18 pg/ml in the non-CL group. Plasma VEGF level of group C was found to be lower than that of group CL ( P P >.05). However, logistic regression analysis showed that VEGF level of group CL was significantly higher ( P r =−0.58, P r =0.29, P Conclusion Increased plasma VEGF levels in patients with coronary artery disease may point that the coronary lesion is critical, and VEGF increase in patients with established coronary artery disease may be used as an indicator of the need for revascularization.