Periovulatory and interleukin-1β-dependent up-regulation of intraovarian vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) in the rat: Potential role for VEGF in the promotion of periovulatory angiogenesis and vascular permeability

Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is an endothelial cell mitogen and permeability factor the role of which in ovarian angiogenesis has been the subject of increasing interest. It was the objective of this communication to explore the possibility that interleukin (IL)-1 may regulate the in vitro expression of rat ovarian VEGF mRNA, as well as to study the in vivo expression of rat ovarian VEGF transcripts during follicular maturation, ovulation, and corpora lutea formation. Taken together, our findings 1) reaffirm the rat ovary as a site of VEGF expression; 2) document an in vivo increase in VEGF transcripts before ovulation; 3) disclose a marked dependence of VEGF on IL-1β; 4) reveal the IL-1β effect to be receptor mediated and dose and time dependent and to be shared by at least two growth factors - epidermal growth factor and basic fibroblastic growth factor; and 5) demonstrate a lack of VEGF effect on ovarian progesterone biosynthesis as assessed in cultured isolated granulosa cells. It is tempting to speculate that the up-regulatory effect of IL-1β on VEGF transcripts may be relevant to the marked angiogenesis and increased vascular permeability displayed by the hyperemic ovarian Graafian follicle during the terminal stages of follicular development. In this context, VEGF may be joined by other IL-1- dependent angiogenesis promoters such as IL-6 or transforming growth factor β₁. Thus, IL-1-mediated VEGF induction may constitute one of several end points through which IL-1 may coordinate and perhaps amplify the ovulatory cascade. Copyright (C) 2000 by the Society for Gynecologic Investigation.