Do ischemic hearts stimulate endothelial cell growth?

The development of myocardial ischemia is known to elicit the formation and enlargement of collateral vessels. The stimulus for these events is unknown. We have investigated the possibility that cardiac tissue releases a factor that can stimulate endothelial cell proliferation. Hearts from New Zealand rabbits were made progressively ischemic by differential hypothermia. Extracts from these hearts were tested for their growth-stimulating ability and were found to increase the proliferation of fetal bovine aortic endothelial cells as well as DNA synthesis by 3T3 cells. The level of activity in the extracts appears to be related to the degree of ischemia as measured by creatine phosphokinase levels. The liberation of an endothelial cell growth factor by ischemic cardiac tissue may function in the initiation and/or potentiation of coronary collateral formation.