ORIGINAL ARTICLE

Angiogenic effect of intramuscular administration of basic fibroblast growth factor in atrophied muscles: an experimental study in the rat

A Efthimiadou¹, N K Nikolettos¹, M Lambropoulou², N Papadopoulos² and E Kontoleon¹

¹ Department of Physiology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis, Greece
² Department of Histology-Embryology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace

Correspondence to:
Correspondence to:
Dr Efthimiadou
Department of Physiology, Medical School, Democritus University of Thrace, Alexandroupolis 68100, Greece; aefthim{at}med.duth.gr

Background: Although angiogenic therapy using recombinant growth factors holds much hope for the treatment of ischaemic diseases, there are still many unanswered questions, including its effectiveness on atrophic muscles.

Objective: To evaluate the angiogenic effects of intramuscularly administered basic fibroblast growth factor (b-FGF) on normal gastrocnemius muscles of rats and atrophic gastrocnemius muscles after tenotomy.

Methods: Forty rats were divided into groups as follows: group A, controls; group B, injected with 1 µg b-FGF; group C, tenotomy performed on the right gastrocnemius muscle; group D, tenotomy and 1 µg b-FGF. Mouse anti-rat CD31 antibody was used to evaluate the number of blood vessels present in histological preparations.

Results: There was a significant (p<0.01) decrease in the number of blood vessels compared with the controls in the atrophic muscles of group C. This was similar to the decrease in muscle weight in this group. However, there was a significant (p<0.01) increase in the number of blood vessels compared with the controls in groups B and D. Similarly, there was a significant (p<0.01) increase in the number of blood vessels in group D compared with the atrophic muscles in group C.

Conclusion: Intramuscular administration of b-FGF increases angiogenesis in both normal and atrophic rat gastrocnemius muscles at the injection area.

Keywords: angiogenesis; basic fibroblast growth factor; tenotomy; atrophy; muscle

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Commentary

K Kallaras³

³ Laboratory of Physiology, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Thessaloniki, Greece; kallaras{at}med.auth.gr

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