Abstract
It has been proven that vitamin D was decreased and function of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) was injured in systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) patients. However, the effect of vitamin D on the function of EPCs in vitro and its mechanism need further study. Therefore, we investigated whether vitamin D improved the function of EPCs in vitro. The peripheral blood mononuclear cells of the participants were isolated from SLE patients and control subjects and cultured to EPCs. After the EPCs were treated with vitamin D (1,25-(OH)2D3), we evaluated the number, migratory and proliferative activities, and nitric oxide (NO) production of EPCs in vitro and detected vascular endothelial function by flow-mediated dilatation (FMD). We found that vitamin D in a dose-dependent manner improved number and migratory and proliferative activities of EPCs from SLE patients. Additionally, vitamin D upregulated NO production from EPCs in vitro. A significant correlation between the FMD and plasma NO level was found. There was also a correlation between number, migration, and proliferation of EPCs and NO production. Thus, the present findings indicated that vitamin D improved the function of EPCs from SLE patients via NO secretion.
Highlights
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype of autoimmune disease, which mainly affects young women
We found that the flow-mediated dilatation (FMD) was correlated with the nitric oxide (NO) level, indicating that endothelium damage may be related NO decrease in SLE patients (Figure 1(c))
Recent studies have found that there was a serious deficiency of active vitamin D in SLE, which led to vascular endothelial dysfunction [15, 21]
Summary
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a prototype of autoimmune disease, which mainly affects young women. Erefore, the repair of vascular endothelial injury is an important measure to effectively prevent and treat SLE atherosclerosis and its complications. Erefore, what is the effect of vitamin D on endothelial progenitor cells in SLE patients? Previous studies have found that NO plays an important role in regulating endothelial progenitor cell adhesion, migration, and proliferation and mediating vascular repair as well [8, 14, 18]. By observing the effect of vitamin D on EPCs and NO level in SLE patients, this study elucidated the underlying causes of atherosclerosis in SLE patients, laying a foundation for the clinical prevention and treatment of cardiovascular diseases in SLE patients and the discovery of new drug targets
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