Abstract:

BACKGROUND: Previous studies demonstrated that ischemia can be compensated by establishing collateral circulation and microangiogenesis, and exercise training can ameliorate blood supply of ischemic lower limb. However, whether exercise training accelerate establishment of collateral circulation remains poorly understood. 
OBJECTIVE: To explore the mechanism of exercise training on accelerating microangiogenesis of rat ischemic lower limb.
METHODS: Sprague-Dawley rats were randomly divided into the exercise training, model and sham-surgery groups. All animals were established left lower limb ischemia models except those in the sham-surgery group. Rats in the exercise training group were forced running 30 minutes per day at 1 week after model preparation and those in other groups were performed daily activities. The adductor of ischemic lower limb was obtained for the examination of microvessel density and the expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor. Simultaneously, bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells were harvested for detection of microangiogenesis.
RESULTS AND CONCLUSION: Number of endothelial progenitor cells, expressions of vascular endothelial growth factor and basic fibroblast growth factor, as well as microvessel density of the exercise training group was obviously greater than those in the model and sham-surgery groups (P < 0.01). Compared with the model and sham-surgery groups, in vitro vasculogenesis of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells in the exercise training group was increased (P < 0.05). These findings demonstrated that lower limb ischemia increases microangiogenesis, and exercise training enhances this effect.