Legal medicine
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Wound healing evaluation is important in forensic pathology. We have already shown that vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is produced in the rat skin incision wounds. In this study, we used cyclophosphamide hydrate (CPM) to induce leukocytopenia in rats, and measured VEGF in the skin incision wound area to assess the involvement of leukocytes in the early production of VEGF. ⋯ Immunohistochemically, VEGF was positive in leukocytes and mesenchymal cells including fibroblasts and endothelial cells in the 3-day-old wound of saline-administered control rats, while a few fibroblasts and endothelial cells were positively stained in CPM-administered rats. In situ hybridization showed the localization of VEGF mRNA in mesenchymal cells including fibroblasts and endothelial cells in the 1-day-old wound of CPM-administered rats, whereas saline-administered control rats also showed VEGF mRNA positivity in leukocytes. Our study indicates that leukocytes may be the major source of VEGF in the early stage of the rat skin incision wound.