[Vasoactive intestinal peptide enhances angiogenesis after focal cerebral ischemia].

Objective: To investigate the effect of vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP) on angiogenesis after focal cerebral ischemia.

Methods: Focal cerebral ischemia was induced by middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) for 120 min in adult SD rats with intracerebroventricular VIP administration at the beginning of reperfusion. Immunohistochemistry was performed to assay BrdU immunoreactive endothelial cells, expressions of VEGF, flt-1 and flk-1 in the ischemic zone, and the protein expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the brain was measured using Western blotting.