increased levels of vegf-a and hif-1α in turkish children with crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever

background: crimean-congo hemorrhagic fever (cchf) is a disease characterized by serious course, including acute viral fever, ecchymosis, thrombocytopenia, liver dysfunction and high rate of mortality. hypoxia inducible factor-1α (hif-1α) and vascular endothelial growth factor-a (vegf-a) play an important role both in the inflamma­tory process and plasma leakage. the aim of this study was to define hif-1α and vegf-a serum levels obtained from cchf patients and control group and to investigate whether these factors were correlated with the pathogenesis of this disease. methods: thirty cases younger than 17 yr confirmed by rt-pcr and/or elisa for cchf were included in this study. thirty age and sex matched healthy peoples were enrolled as controls. blood samples collected from the pa­tient and control groups. serum levels of hif-1α and vegf-a were measured with elisa. results: levels of hif-1α and vegf-a were statistically significantly increased in cchf patients compared to the control group (p< 0.05).  a significant positive correlation was found between the levels of hif-1α and vegf-a in the patient group (p< 0.01). the levels of alt, ast, ck, aptt, wbc and thrombocyte count were significantly higher in the patients than in the control group (p< 0.001). a positive correlation was found among the levels of ast and ck from biochemical parame­ters and vegf and hif-1α in the patient group (p< 0.05) conclusion: hif-1α and vegf-a might play an important role in cchf pathogenesis.