Vascular endothelial growth factor - key mediator of angiogenesis and promising therapeutical target in ulcerative colitis

Vol. 58 No. 4, 2017

ROMANIAN JOURNAL of MORPHOLOGY and EMBRYOLOGY

Radu Bogdan Mateescu, Alexandra Eugenia Bastian, Luciana Nichita, Madalina Marinescu, Farid Rouhani, Andrei Mihai Voiosu, Andreea Bengus, Diana Rodica Tudorascu, Cristiana Gabriela Popp

Ulcerative colitis (UC) is an inflammatory bowel disease, triggered by an inappropriate immune response of colonic mucosa. Angiogenesis is an important part of inflammatory process, enhancing inflammation in a vicious circle that aggravates mucosal damage and remodeling. The most important pathway for angiogenesis in ulcerative colitis involves vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endoglin (CD105) and can be used as target for adjuvant therapy in order to improve patients outcome. We present a retrospective cohort study evaluating mucosal expression of VEGF and CD105 and their correlation with patients evolution and risk of relapse. In our study, patients with UC have correlated increases of VEGF expression and microvessel density (evaluated with CD105 staining), sustaining the hypothesis that angiogenesis is not just a passive process driven by inflammation, but an active player of mucosal lesions in ulcerative colitis.

Corresponding author: Diana Rodica Tudorascu, MD, PhD; e-mail: petridiana@yahoo.com

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