ABSTRACT
Objective: To investigate influence of isometric exercise (IE) training on number of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and level of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) of circulating blood in patients with coronary chronic total occlusion (CTO). Methods: A total of 20 CTO patients were divided into training group (n=10) and control group (n=10). Both groups received routine medication for three months, training group also received three-month IE training (maximal handgrip was used to induce maximum IE of upper limb muscles, leading to temporary physiological ischemia of skeletal muscle),while control group remained sedentary without exercise training. Flow cytometry was used to measure number of blood EPCs, and enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) was used to measure serum concentration of VEGF. Results: Before treatment, the differences of levels of blood EPCs and VEGF between two groups were no significant（P>0.05）. Compared with before treatment, there were significant increase in blood number of EPCs [(0.028±0.009)% vs. (0.044±0.016)%] and VEGF concentration [(65.3±15.1) pg/ml vs. (98.5±17.4)pg/ml] after three-month treatment in training group (P=0.015, P0.05. The blood numbers of EPCs were positively correlated with VEGF concentration in training group and control group (r=0.727, r=0.785, P<0.05 both). Conclusions: Isometric exercise training can increase blood number of EPCs and VEGF concentration in coronary CTO patients, which may contribute to collateral angiogenesis in remote ischemic myocardium.