Expression changes of VEGF-A and VEGF-C and their correlation with angiogenesis in astrocytic tumor

QIN Yue-hong; WANG Gong-chao; LIU Bin; XU Shang-chen; LUAN Li-ming; PANG Qi

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-266X.2014.15.001

Abstract：Objective To observe the expression changes of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) and vascular endothelial growth factor-C (VEGF-C) in low-grade and high-grade astrocytic gliomas and their correlation with angiogenesis, which will provide the basis for target therapy and prognosis of astrocytomas .Methods Ninety-three astrocytic glioma samples and 9 normal brain tissues from spontaneous intracranial hemorrhage were obtained .The protein expression and microvessel den-sity (MVD) of VEGF-A and VEGF-C was examined with immunohistochemical staining method (S-P).The mRNA expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C was examined with fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR).Statistical analysis was employed to determine the reciprocal correlation between VEGF-A and VEGF-C, and their correlation with WHO grades and MVD.Results The positive expression rates of VEGF-A, VEGF-C, and MVD in the astrocytic tumor tissues were significantly higher than those of the normal brain tissues, and the degree of expression was in accordance with the malignance of tumors (all P<0.01).The expression of VEGF-A, VEGF-C protein was correlated with MVD (all P<0.01).Meanwhile, the expression of VEGF-A, VEGF-C mRNA was higher than that of the normal tissues and the degree of expression was in accordance with the ma-lignance of tumors (all P<0.05), and the VEGF-A mRNA was significantly correlated with VEGF-C mRNA (all P<0.05). Conclusion The expression of VEGF-A and VEGF-C is up-regulated and is correlated with the malignancy of astrocytic tumor, which shows a close correlation between each other as well as their correlation with tumor angiogenesis .