The present invention relates to a method for treating insufficiency of peripheral circulation or peripheral angiostenosis in a subject for which HGF is effective, comprising administering to the area affected by the insufficiency of peripheral circulation or peripheral angiostenosis a therapeutically effective amount of an expression vector containing a constitutive promoter operably linked to a HGF coding sequence, whereby the HGF is expressed, promoting the growth of vascular endothelial cells but not vascular smooth muscle cells.