Background: Graft function may be affected if the organ is exposed to hypoxia. We hypothesized that bronchiolitis obliterans (BO) after lung transplantation is associated with hypoxia-inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α). This study compares the expression of HIF-1α and its downstream proteins in allograft and isograft to explore the relationship between this pathway and BO in rats. Material and methods: We performed an orthotopic left pulmonary transplant model using the tri-cuff vascular anastomosis method and evaluated the histopathology, including the severity of fibrosis (SF). The expression of HIF-1α, VEGF-A, and VEGFR-2 was accessed by immunohistochemistry. Results: The imageology and pathology showed that the allogenic model developed BO 90 days after the operation. The percentages of a high expression of HIF-1α, VEGF-A, and VEGFR-2 in the allogeneic group were 77.27, 63.64, and 68.18% higher than in the isogeneic group, respectively. The SF score was highest in the allograft and was positively correlated with the expression of the proteins. Conclusion: This model can simulate human BO after lung transplantation. The expression of HIF-1α and its downstream proteins in post-transplantation was up-regulated, suggesting that activation of the HIF-1α-VEGF pathway might be involved in the occurrence and prognosis of BO.
CITATION STYLE
Xu, H., Abuduwufuer, A., Lv, W., Zhou, Z., Yang, Y., Zhang, C., & Hu, J. (2019). The role of HIF-1α-VEGF pathway in bronchiolitis obliterans after lung transplantation. Journal of Cardiothoracic Surgery, 14(1). https://doi.org/10.1186/s13019-019-0832-z
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