VEGF promotes both blood vessel growth and vascular permeability, and VEGF upregulation therefore drives excessive vascular leakage and tissue-damaging oedema in neovascular and inflammatory diseases such as tumour ascites, diabetic retinopathy, age-related macular degeneration, stroke and myocardial infarction (e.g., Refs. This evidence concerns the gene VEGFA and myocardial infarction.