Intracoronary Cytoprotective Gene Therapy: A Study of VEGF-B167 in a Pre-Clinical Animal Model of Dilated Cardiomyopathy.

Background: Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF)-B activates cytoprotective/antiapoptotic and minimally angiogenic mechanisms via VEGF receptors. Therefore, VEGF-B might be an ideal candidate for the treatment of dilated cardiomyopathy, which displays modest microvascular rarefaction and increased rate of apoptosis.

Objectives: This study evaluated VEGF-B gene therapy in a canine model of tachypacing-induced dilated cardiomyopathy.