Exercise training has various benefits on cardiovascular health, and circulating angiogenic
cells have been proposed as executing these changes. Work from the late 1990s supported
an important role of these circulating post-natal cells in contributing to the maintenance
and repair of the endothelium and vasculature. It was later found that circulating
angiogenic cells were a heterogenous population of cells and primarily functioned
in a paracrine manner by adhering to damaged endothelium and releasing growth factors.
Many studies have discovered novel circulating angiogenic cell secreted proteins,
microRNA and extracellular vesicles that mediate their angiogenic potential, and some
studies have shown that both acute and chronic aerobic exercise training have distinct
benefits. This review highlights work establishing an essential role of secreted factors
from circulating angiogenic cells and summarizes studies regarding the effects of
exercise training on these factors. Finally, we highlight the various gaps in the
literature in hopes of guiding future work.
Key words
microRNA - angiogenesis - extracellular vesicle - cytokine