Abstract: Objective To investigate the gene therapy effect of hypoxia-inducible expression vector carrying VEGF gene in rabbit limb ischemia models. Methods The rabbit models of left hindlimb ischemia were developed by ligation of the distal external iliac artery and excision of branches of femoral arteries. When the rabbit models were established, the recombinant plasmids of hypoxia-inducible expression vector 6HRE-pcDNA-VEGF165 was transferred by intramuscular injection to the left hind limb immediately. At different time points, every animal was evaluated by the measurement of lower limb calf blood pressure and angiography. Results Lower limb calf blood pressure in the experimental group which was applied of hypoxia-inducible gene expression vector carrying hVEGF was recovered rapidly than in the control group. Artery angiography showed that distal arteries were inflated earlier and there were more angiogenesis in the gene therapy group than in the control group. Also the collateral circulation was established earlier in the experimental group. Conclusion Hypoxia-inducible VEGF gene expression vector could improve angiogenesis for the rabbit limb ischemia models and improve blood circulation in ischemic limbs.

Key words: hypoxia inducible expression vector, vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), limb ischemia, gene therapy