Etiological evidence demonstrates that there is a significant association between cigarette smoking and chronic airway inflammatory disease. Abnormal expression of placental growth factor (PlGF) has been reported in COPD, and its downstream signaling molecules have been reported to contribute to the pathogenesis of airway epithelial cell apoptosis and emphysema. However, the signaling mechanism...

This study aimed to determine whether the vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) family members soluble VEGF receptor 1 (also called soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase 1 (sFlt-1)) and placental growth factor (PlGF) could be used as biomarkers for pulmonary hypertension (PH). Consecutive patients undergoing right heart catheterisation were enrolled (those with mean pulmonary arterial pressure ≥...

OBJECTIVE To investigate whether measurement of maternal serum placental growth factor (PLGF) can improve the performance of first-trimester combined screening for trisomy-21 by fetal nuchal translucency (NT) thickness and serum free β-human chorionic gonadotropin (β-hCG) and PAPP-A. METHODS In singleton pregnancies attending for routine care, serum PLGF, free β-hCG and PAPP-A were measured a...

Treatment of bone metastases is largely symptomatic and is still an unmet medical need. Current therapies mainly target the late phase of tumor-induced osteoclast activation and hereby inhibit further metastatic growth. This treatment method is, however, less effective in preventing initial tumor engraftment, a process that is supposed to depend on the bone microenvironment. We explored whether...

Objective: This prospective study was designed to determine whether variation in angiogenic (placental growth factor [PlGF]) and/or anti-angiogenic (soluble fms-like tyrosine kinase [sFlt-1]) factors contribute to the protective effect of highland ancestry (Andean) from altitude-associated reductions in fetal growth. Study design: Plasma sFlt-1 and PlGF levels, uterine artery (UA) blood flow, a...

OBJECTIVE The purpose of this study was to examine placental growth factor's (PlGF) predictive value in relation to coronary heart disease (CHD) risk in healthy women. METHODS AND RESULTS Among 32 826 women from the Nurses' Health Study who provided blood samples at baseline, 453 CHD events were documented during 14 years of follow-up. Controls were matched to cases (2:1) for age, smoking, fa...

OBJECTIVE To examine the first-trimester maternal serum placental growth factor (PlGF) and pregnancy-associated plasma protein A (PAPP-A) levels in pregnancies associated with pre-eclampsia (PE) or small-for-gestational-age (SGA) infants, and determine the predictive accuracy of PlGF and of PAPP-A for either PE or SGA infants. METHODS This prospective, observational study included 175 pregnan...

OBJECTIVE Childhood obesity and the Metabolic Syndrome (MetS) are associated with an increased risk for early onset endothelial dysfunction and atherosclerosis. Placental growth factor (PlGF), a member of the vascular endothelial growth factor family, plays an important role in atherosclerosis by stimulating angiogenesis and atherogenic migration of monocytes/macrophages into the arterial wall....

When supply arteries become occluded, blood is diverted through preexisting collateral vessels. Shear stress arising from this increase in blood flow provides the initial physiological stimulus for expansion of the collateral circulation, a process termed arteriogenesis. Endothelial cells (EC) respond to increased shear stress by releasing a variety of mediators that can act on underlying smoot...