Contrasting effect of exercise and angiotensin II hypertension on in vivo and in vitro cardiac angiogenesis in rats

Cardiac vessel density (beta-actin immunolabeling) and angiogenic capacity of coronary artery explants (culture in collagen gel) was determined in hypertrophied heart obtained by exercise training (10 wk) or ANG II infusion for 10 days. A group of rats received ANG II the last 10 days of training. The heart weight index was similarly elevated after exercise, and ANG II-hypertension compared with controls (3.16 +/- 0.09 and 3.11 +/- 0.11 vs. 2.68 +/- 0.08 mg/g, respectively), whereas tail cuff pressure (TCP) increased only in sedentary rats infused with ANG II. Vessel density was increased by 36% in trained rats and reduced by 30% in ANG II-infused rats. The number of sprouts generated by coronary rings was reduced by 50% in ANG II-infused rats and increased by 50% in exercise trained rats compared with controls (35 +/- 4 and 113 +/- 5 vs. 71 +/- 1 sprouts per ring, respectively). Exercise-training partly prevented the hypertensive effect of ANG II (TCP of 141 +/- 5 mmHg), whereas heart weight index (3.66 +/- 0.06 mg/g body wt) was not lowered. Myocardial vessel density was normalized, and sprouting from coronary rings increased by 50% in trained rats infused with ANG II compared with sedentary normotensive rats. Cardiac VEGF (Western blot analysis) was higher in hypertensive rats and not affected by exercise. Facing a similar increase in cardiac mass, intense training, but not ANG II hypertension, is accompanied by an increase in vascular density of the heart. The effect of training is unlikely related to changes in resting VEGF and may represent enhanced angiogenic capacity of the coronary vascular bed.