The effect of Astragalus on VEGF in ischemic myocardium of rats

doi:10.3969/j.issn.1002-1949.2014.11.019

Abstract：Objective To study the effect of Astragalus on the level of vascular endothelial growth factor ( VEGF) in ischemic myocardium of rats.Methods The acute myocardial infarction ( AMI) models were established in twenty-four male Wistar rats.Twenty-four hours after procedure, the surviving rats were randomly divided into drug group ( n=8 ) , control group ( n=8 ) , and sham-operated group (n =8).Rats in the drug group were injected with Astragalus [2.5 mg/(kg· d)] Intraperitoneally.The control group and the sham-operated group were received same volume saline intraperitoneally.Four weeks later, the rats were sacrificed and the myocardial tissue were collected. The number of miniature blood vessel ( MVC) and microvascular density ( MVD) was counted according to FⅧ staining technique, and the expression of VEGF was detected by immunohistochemistry technique.Results The number of MVC and MVD in drug group and control group was higher than that in sham-operated group, and the drug group was higher than the control group (P<0.05); higher expression of VEGF was shown in drug group and control group than sham-operated group (P<0.01), while the expression in drug group was higher than control group (P<0.01).Conclusion Astragalus can increase the level of VEGF and promote angiogenesis in ischemic myocardium of rats.