Hypoxia-inducible factor 1 alpha (HIF-1a), the upstream regulator of Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF), is the vital hypoxia related gene expression control factor. To evaluate HIF-1a therapeutic efficacy to acute myocardial infarction, the HIF-1a expressing recombinant Adeno-associated virus (rAAV) was constructed. The Wistar rat ischemic heart animal model was established with left anterior descending coronary artery ligation. The ischemic rats were treated with HIF-1a expressing and GFP expressing rAAVs respectively. Four weeks post the injection, the cardiac function of treated rat was compared by TM_WAVE system; size of infracted area was calculated by Evan's blue stain and capillary density was determined by CD31 immunohistochemical staining. Compare to the control group, the rats received HIF-1a expressing rAAV have smaller infracted heart size, the better heart function and higher capillary density than vehicle control group. The results show that the injection of HIF1a expressing rAAV can improve cardiac function and ameliorate acute myocardial ischemia (AMI) in rats. (C) 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.