Differential expression of the angiogenic factor genes vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endocrine gland-derived VEGF in normal and polycystic human ovaries.

ABSTRACT: Angiogenesis is a key aspect of the dynamic changes occurring during the normal ovarian cycle. Hyperplasia and hypervascularity of the ovarian theca interna and stroma are also prominent features of the polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), a leading cause of infertility. Compelling evidence indicated that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a key mediator of the cyclical corpus luteum angiogenesis. However, the nature of the factor(s) that mediate angiogenesis in PCOS is less clearly understood. Endocrine gland-derived (EG)-VEGF has been recently identified as an endothelial cell mitogen with selectivity for the endothelium of steroidogenic glands and is expressed in normal human ovaries. In the present study, we compared the expression of EG-VEGF and VEGF mRNA in a series of 13 huma

SUBMITTER: Ferrara N 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC1868136 | biostudies-literature | 2003 Jun

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature