Transdermal nicotine patches (TNPs), administering nicotine into the bloodstream through skin, have been widely used as nicotine replacement therapy, and exposure to nicotine can be detected by measurement of plasma cotinine concentration. In animal studies, nicotine treatment could increase the number of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), but the effect of TNPs on circulating EPCs and their activity in humans remained unclear. This study aimed to explore the influence of TNPs on circulating EPCs with surface markers of CD34, CD133, and/or KDR, and colony‐forming function plus migration activity of early EPCs derived from cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells before and after TNP treatments in young healthy nonsmokers. In parallel, pulse wave analysis (PWA) was applied to evaluate the vascular effect of TNP treatments. Twenty‐one participants (25.8 ± 3.6 years old, 10 males) used TNP (nicotine: 4.2 mg/day) for 7 consecutive days. During the treatment, the CD34+ EPCs progressively increased in number. In addition, the number of EPCs positive for CD34/KDR, CD133, and CD34/CD133 were also increased on day 7 of the treatment. Furthermore, the early EPC colony‐forming function and migration activity were increased with the plasma cotinine level positively correlating with change in colony‐forming unit number. PWA analyses on day 7, compared with pretreatment, did not show significant change except diastolic pressure time index, which was prolonged and implied potential vascular benefit. In conclusion, 7‐day TNP treatments could be a practical strategy to enhance angiogenesis of circulating EPCs to alleviate tissue ischemia without any hemodynamic concern.

中文翻译：

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透皮尼古丁贴片可增加年轻健康非吸烟者的内皮祖细胞数量和功能，且不会对血流动力学产生不良影响

透皮尼古丁贴片（TNP）通过皮肤将尼古丁注入血液，已被广泛用作尼古丁替代疗法，并且可以通过测量血浆可替宁浓度来检测尼古丁的暴露程度。在动物研究中，尼古丁治疗可以增加内皮祖细胞 (EPC) 的数量，但 TNP 对人体循环 EPC 及其活性的影响仍不清楚。本研究旨在探讨TNP对青年人TNP治疗前后具有CD34、CD133和/或KDR表面标志物的循环EPC的影响，以及来自培养的外周血单核细胞的早期EPC的集落形成功能和迁移活性。健康的不吸烟者。同时，应用脉搏波分析 (PWA) 来评估 TNP 治疗的血管效果。 21 名参与者（25.8 ± 3.6 岁，10 名男性）连续 7 天使用 TNP（尼古丁：4.2 毫克/天）。治疗期间，CD34+EPC的数量逐渐增加。此外，CD34/KDR、CD133和CD34/CD133阳性的EPC数量在治疗第7天也有所增加。此外，随着血浆可替宁水平与集落形成单位数量的变化呈正相关，早期EPC集落形成功能和迁移活性增强。第 7 天的 PWA 分析与治疗前相比，除了舒张压时间指数延长并暗示潜在的血管益处外，没有显示显着变化。总之，7 天 TNP 治疗可能是一种实用策略，可以增强循环 EPC 的血管生成，从而减轻组织缺血，而无需担心血流动力学问题。