Korean J Physiol Pharmacol.  2014 Apr;18(2):163-168. 10.4196/kjpp.2014.18.2.163.

Regular Exercise Training Increases the Number of Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Decreases Homocysteine Levels in Healthy Peripheral Blood

• Choi JK
• Moon KM
• Jung SY
• Kim JY
• Choi SH
• Kim DY
• Kang S
• Chu CW
• Kwon SM

• KMID: 2285506
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.4196/kjpp.2014.18.2.163

Abstract

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are known to play an important role in the repair of damaged blood vessels. We used an endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming assay (EPC-CFA) to determine whether EPC numbers could be increased in healthy individuals through regular exercise training. The number of functional EPCs obtained from human peripheral blood-derived AC133 stem cells was measured after a 28-day regular exercise training program. The number of total endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (EPC-CFU) was significantly increased compared to that in the control group (p=0.02, n=5). In addition, we observed a significant decrease in homocysteine levels followed by an increase in the number of EPC-CFUs (p=0.04, n=5), indicating that the 28-day regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC colonies and decrease homocysteine levels. Moreover, an inverse correlation was observed between small-endothelial progenitor cell colony-forming units (small-EPC-CFUs) and plasma homocysteine levels in healthy men (r=-0.8125, p=0.047). We found that regular exercise training could increase the number of EPC-CFUs and decrease homocysteine levels, thus decreasing the cardiovascular disease risk in men.

Keyword

Endothelial progenitor cells; EPC, Exercise; Homocysteine; Regular exercise training

MeSH Terms

Blood Vessels
Cardiovascular Diseases
Education
Homocysteine*
Humans
Male
Plasma
Stem Cells*
Homocysteine

Figure

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  Fig. 1 Characterization of peripheral blood-derived CFU colonies. After the 28-day regular exercise training program, AC133 positive stem cells were isolated and the EPC-CFU assay was performed. After 18~20 day culture, colony-derived cells were characterized by immunostaining. Cells were stained for endothelial lineage markers, i.e., CD31, KDR, phosphor-Akt (Red), vWF (green). Nuclei were stained with DAPI (blue).

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  Fig. 2 Number of small and large EPC-CFU-derived cells after regular exercise. (A) The morphology of small and round shaped EPC-CFUs, a type of early EPCs from Peripheral blood-derived AC133 positive cells. (B) The number of small-EPC-CFUs. After the 28-day regular exercise training program, an increase in small and round shaped EPC-CFUs was observed (7.87±2.55 vs. 12.40±2.16 small-EPC-CFUs; p=0.06, n=5). (C) The morphology of large and spindle shaped EPC-CFUs, a type of late EPCs from Peripheral blood-derived AC133 positive cells. (D) The number of large and spindle shaped EPC-CFUs. After the 28-day regular exercise training program, an increase in large and spindle shaped EPC-CFUs was observed (3.13±1.30 vs. 4.27±1.26 large-EPC-CFUs; p=0.31, n=5). (E) The number of total EPC-CFUs. After the 28-day regular exercise training program, the number of total EPC-CFUs was significantly increased (11.00±3.30 vs. 16.67±2.53 total EPC-CFUs; *p<0.05, n=5).

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  Fig. 3 Relationships between the level of peripheral blood homocysteine and the number of two types of EPC colonies. (A) Homocysteine blood levels were measured in the peripheral blood of subjects after regular exercise training by an enzymatic method that uses an automated biochemistry analyzer. The level of plasma homocysteine significantly decreased after 28 days of regular exercise training (10.30±0.36 vs. 8.57±0.41, *p<0.05, n=5). (B, C) Correlation analysis between the level of peripheral blood homocysteine and the number of EPC colonies. An inverse correlation was observed between small-EPC-CFUs and plasma homocysteine levels in healthy men (r=-0.8125, *p<0.05, n=5).

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