Background. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are recruited to injured endothelium and contribute to its regeneration. There is evidence that moderate ethanol consumption prevents the development and progression of atherosclerosis in a variety of in vitro and in vivo models and increases the mobilization of progenitor cells. Furthermore, there are studies that identified ethanol at low concentration as a therapeutic tool to mobilize progenitor cells in peripheral blood. At the same time, the cell number of EPCs represents a close link to cardiovascular system constitution and function and contributes to cardiovascular risk. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of low dose ethanol on typical features of endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs), a proliferative subtype of EPCs. Methods and Results. We tested whether ethanol impacts the functional abilities of ECFC (e.g., migration, tube formation, and proliferation) using in vitro assays, the intercommunication of ECFC by exploring cell surface molecules by flow cytometry, and the expression of (anti-)angiogenic molecules by ELISA. Low concentrations of ethanol concentration promoted migration, proliferation, and tubule formation of ECFC. The expression of the cell surface marker VE-cadherin, a protein which plays an important role in cell-cell interaction, was enhanced by ethanol, while (anti-)angiogenic molecule expression was not impacted. Conclusion. Ethanol at moderate concentrations increases the angiogenic abilities of endothelial progenitor cells thus possibly contributing to vasoprotection.

中文翻译：

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低浓度乙醇促进内皮祖细胞容量和修复功能

背景。内皮祖细胞 (EPC) 被募集到受损的内皮并有助于其再生。有证据表明，适度的乙醇消耗可在各种体外和体内预防动脉粥样硬化的发展和进展模型和增加祖细胞的动员。此外，有研究确定低浓度乙醇是一种治疗工具，可动员外周血中的祖细胞。同时，EPCs的细胞数量与心血管系统的构成和功能有着密切的联系，并导致心血管风险。本研究的目的是评估低剂量乙醇对内皮集落形成细胞 (ECFCs) 的典型特征的影响，ECFCs 是 EPCs 的一种增殖亚型。方法和结果。我们使用体外测试了乙醇是否会影响 ECFC 的功能（例如迁移、管形成和增殖）化验，通过流式细胞术探索细胞表面分子的ECFC的相互通信，以及通过ELISA的（抗）血管生成分子的表达。低浓度的乙醇浓度促进了 ECFC 的迁移、增殖和小管形成。乙醇增强了细胞表面标志物 VE-钙粘蛋白（一种在细胞间相互作用中起重要作用的蛋白质）的表达，而（抗）血管生成分子的表达没有受到影响。结论。中等浓度的乙醇会增加内皮祖细胞的血管生成能力，因此可能有助于血管保护。