To investigate the role of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and angiogenin (ANG) as genetic determinants in the susceptibility to sporadic ALS in Italian patients. VEGF genotype and haplotype analysis revealed no association between any variants and the risk of ALS. Regarding ANG gene, no mutation was detected and the rs11701 polymorphism, previously described as associated with ALS, was not differently distributed between patients and controls. Overall, our data argue against the hypothesis of both genes as risk factors for motoneuron neurodegeneration, at least in an Italian population.