Abstract: Objectives To investigate the relationship between angiogenesis and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and its receptor in patients with psoriasis.Methods The expression of VEGF and its receptor KDR,and micro-vascular density (MVD) were measured in 42 patients with psoriasis vulgaris and 15 normal controls by in situ hybridization and immunohistochemistry technique,respectively.The concentration of VEGF in sera was measured by double antibody sandwich enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in patients with psoriasis vulgaris and normal controls.Results ①The expression of VEGF mRNA and its protein,KDR,and MVD in psoriatic lesions were significantly higher than those in the normal controls (P<0.01).Between psoriatic lesional and non-lesional skins,there were no significant difference in the expression of VEGF mRNA and its protein,while the difference was significant in the expression of KDR and MVD (P<0.05).There were significant differences in the expression of VEGF mRNA,its protein,KDR and MVD between the active and the resting stages of psoriasis vulgaris (P<0.05 ).②There were no significant differences in the expression of VEGF mRNA and its protein between the high MVD (≥17.88) and the low MVD (<17.88) groups,but the expression of KDR in the high MVD group was higher than that in the low MVD group (P<0.01),and the difference of PASI scores was significant in the two groups (P<0.001).③Serum concentration of VEGF was significantly higher in psoriasis patients than that in the normal controls (P<0.001).Conclusions ①VEGF and its receptor might play an important role in the angiogenesis in psoriasis.②MVD is related to the seriousness of the disease,and might be a useful index for judging the status of the disease and prognosis of the patients with psoriasis vulgaris.

Key words: Psoriasis, Endothelial growth factors, Receptor,growth factor, Neovascularization,pathologic