Apoptosis and Angiogenesis in Varicose Veins Using Gene Expression Profiling

Little information is known about the genetic mechanisms of the pathophysiology of varicose veins (VVs). The purpose of this study was to systematically explore the biological pathways of genes speculatively participating in VVs by microarray bioinformatics analysis methods. The results showed that 32 genes were upregulated and 74 genes were downregulated in VVs. Gene Ontology and relevant bioinformatics tools indicated that the functional categories in which 106 genes (2.8%; 106/3800) of the most frequent alteration belonged to were apoptosis and angiogenesis. The analysis of 20 VV tissue specimens demonstrated that genes involved in angiogenesis and apoptosis pathways had high rates of overexpression. In addition, we discovered that genes involved in the angiogenesis pathways included HSP90, ILK, and TGFB1, and they played key roles in the development of VVs. This study demonstrated that the angiogenesis and apoptosis pathways may play an important role in the formation of VVs, but their molecular mechanisms need further investigation.