The effects of ethanol on angiogenesis after myocardial infarction, and preservation of angiogenesis with rosuvastatin after heavy drinking

• Low ethanol consumption promotes angiogenesis by increasing the expression of VEGF.
• High ethanol consumption inhibits ischemia-induced angiogenesis.
• Rosuvastatin alleviates the inhibitory effects of heavy drinking on angiogenesis.

The cardioprotective effects of moderate alcohol consumption and statins have been known for years. However, heavy or binge drinking confers a high risk of cardiovascular disease. This study aimed to investigate the effects of different levels of alcohol consumption on acute myocardial infarction that was induced experimentally in rats, with a focus on the potential mechanism of angiogenesis and the effects of statins on heavy drinking. The experimental rats were fed low-dose ethanol (0.5 g/kg/day), high-dose ethanol (5 g/kg/day), and high-dose ethanol with rosuvastatin (10 mg/kg/day) during the entire experiment. Acute myocardial infarctions were induced 4 weeks after the beginning of the experiment. We assessed the capillary density in the myocardium via immunohistochemistry and quantified the expression of vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and endostatin via enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay kits on the 4th day after myocardial infarction. The results revealed that low ethanol consumption promoted angiogenesis in association with higher VEGF and lower endostatin. High ethanol intake suppressed angiogenesis with unchanged VEGF and elevated endostatin. Treatment with rosuvastatin preserved angiogenesis following high ethanol intake, with an upregulation of VEGF. This study highlights that low ethanol consumption obviously promotes angiogenesis in myocardial-infarction rats while increasing the expression of VEGF, whereas high ethanol consumption inhibits ischemia-induced angiogenesis. This study also provides evidence that rosuvastatin alleviates the inhibitory effects of heavy drinking on angiogenesis.