Twenty dogs with myocardial infarction were divided into 4 groups: (1) HGF, MB and ultrasound (HGF-US/MB), (2) HGF and US (HGF-US), (3) HGF alone and (4) surgery alone (control). In the HGF-US/MB group, HGF plasmid DNA (500 渭g) mixed with 0.5 ml of MB solution was injected 5 min after coronary occlusion followed by insonation. With the exception of the control group, the other dogs were divided into two groups, one treated with the HGF gene and insonation and the other with the HGF gene only.
Compared to the HGF group, infarct size decreased from 32% 卤 7%(control) to 23% 卤 5%in the HGF-US/MB group 28 d later (P < 0.05). Capillary density increased from 21.7 卤 4.2/mm2 (control) to 114.3 卤 28.9/mm2 in the HGF-US/MB group (P < 0.01). Compared to the HGF group, there was a 14%decrease in the ratio of left ventricle weight/body weight and a 25%decrease in hydroxyproline content. We also observed a 29%and 20%decrease in collagen volume fraction of type I and type III collagen, respectively in the HGF-US/MB group.
Intramyocardial injection of HGF and MB in combination with insonation enhances neovascularization and reduces ventricular remodeling and infarct size.