CHENG Haiyan,SHEN Zhe. Changes of vascular endothelial growth factor-A in patients with Crohn’s disease after treatment with infliximab and its clinical significance[J]. JOURNAL OF WEZHOU MEDICAL UNIVERSITY, 2021, 51(12): 985-989,994.
Abstract：Objective: To investigate the changes and clinical significance of vascular endothelial growth factor-A (VEGF-A) in patients with Crohn’s disease after treatment with infliximab. Methods: From January 2016 to September 2020, 30 patients with severe CD and 30 healthy volunteers were selected. Patients with severe CD were treated with infliximab for 6 months. The serum and intestinal mucosa were collected from CD patients before and after treatment and from healthy volunteers as well. Enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunohistochemical staining were used to detect the expression of VEGF-A in serum and intestinal mucosa.C-reactive protein (CRP) was detected by scattered light turbidimetry and erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR) was detected by Windmanstatten method. Results: ELISA showed that VEGF-A expression in the serum of CD patients was significantly lower than that before treatment, but higher than healthy volunteers (P<0.05).After treatment, CD patients had significantly decreased CRP and ESR serum levels, compared with the healthy volunteers. The serum CRP level in the post-treatment group increased significantly (P<0.05), but there was no significant difference in ESR level (P=0.521). There were positive correlations between CRP, ESR and VEGF-A in CD patients before treatment (r=0.727, 0.450, P<0.05). Immunohistochemical staining showed that VEGF-A expression in the diseased intestinal tissue of CD patients was significantly lower than that before treatment, but higher than the healthy controls (P<0.05). The expression level of VEGF-A in serum was positively correlated with the expression intensity of VEGF-A in intestinal mucosa tissue before and after treatment (r=0.714, 0.926,P<0.05). Conclusion: The VEGF-A level in serum and intestinal mucosa is positively correlated with the CD disease activity, which has the potential to be used as an indicator to evaluate the treatment efficacy of CD.
