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Neurological Sciences
Published in: Neurological Sciences 6/2020

01-06-2020 | Multiple Sclerosis | Original Article

Upregulation of VEGF-A and correlation between VEGF-A and FLT-1 expressions in Iranian multiple sclerosis patients

Authors: Ghazaleh Azimi, Fatemeh Ranjbaran, Shahram Arsang-Jang, Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard, Mehrdokht Mazdeh, Arezou Sayad, Mohammad Taheri

Published in: Neurological Sciences | Issue 6/2020

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Abstract

Multiple sclerosis (MS) is among the most common diseases affecting brain and spinal cord. MS progression is characterized by breakdown of blood brain barrier which leads to increased vascular permeability and angiogenesis. Consequently, vascular endothelial growth factor A (VEGF) and its receptors are considered to be important components of MS progression. VEGFA and fms-related tyrosine kinase 1 (FLT1) play important roles in various aspects of MS. In this study, we investigated the relationship between these genes and MS. For this purpose, the expression levels of VEGFA and FLT1 were measured in the blood of 50 relapsing-remitting MS (RR-MS) patients and 50 healthy individuals using TaqMan quantitative real-time PCR. A significant upregulation of VEGFA expression was observed among MS patients compared with controls (p = 0.04). However, the difference in FLT1 gene expression between study groups was insignificant (p = 0.947). In addition, there was a significant positive correlation between VEGFA and FLT1 genes expressions (r = 0.769, p < 0.0001). In spite of the highly complex molecular mechanisms behind this, the findings imply participation of VEGFA in the pathogenesis of MS.
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Metadata
Title
Upregulation of VEGF-A and correlation between VEGF-A and FLT-1 expressions in Iranian multiple sclerosis patients
Authors
Ghazaleh Azimi
Fatemeh Ranjbaran
Shahram Arsang-Jang
Soudeh Ghafouri-Fard
Mehrdokht Mazdeh
Arezou Sayad
Mohammad Taheri
Publication date
01-06-2020
Publisher
Springer International Publishing
Published in
Neurological Sciences / Issue 6/2020
Print ISSN: 1590-1874
Electronic ISSN: 1590-3478
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10072-019-04234-2

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