A study on the expression of VEGF in ischemic rabbit hearts and its postmortem stability / 中国法医学杂志

ABSTRACT

Objective To observe the stability and the change pattern of VEGF expression in myocardium in varied postmortem periods,and to evaluate its usefulness in diagnosis of early myocardial ischemia after death.Methods An animal model of early myocardial ischemia was established by ligating coronary artery of rabbit,immunohistochemistry(SP protocol),image analysis technique and statistical analysis system are applied to detect and compare the area and intensity of expression of VEGF in cardiocytes,and its stability in different postmortem perieds.ResultsIn ischemic myocardium,VEGF shows foci or sheets of intense positive staining in cardiocytes,with negative or weak staining in some cells.There was weak staining in vascular endothelial cells and smooth muscle cells,but no staining in interstitium.When ischemic myocardium stored at 4℃,the staining of VEGF became weaker with time delay,but there was weak staining in a fraction of cardiocytes even 10d after death.There was significant difference in the intensity of VEGF staining between ischemic and normal postmortem myocardium from 1 to 10d.Conclusion VEGF can withstand a certain degree of autolysis or putrefaction,and the immunohistochemical staining of it is valuable in the diagnosis of early myocardial ischemia in corpses stored at 4℃ for 1~10d after death.