VEGFA and ischemia: The vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) increased in the border zone of an infarct compared to controls, observing a statistically significant correlation (p < 0.01) between the coronary sinus pressure and the stretch-induced expression of HO-1 and VEGF mRNA, indicating that pressurization of the venous microcirculation is an effective stimulus in addition to ischemia for the manifold expression of these vasoactive molecules.