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Conclusion

Androgenic steroid hormones act through genomic and non-genomic mechanisms and significantly influence the function of ECs and their progenitors. These hormones are involved in the regulation of the vascular tone, proliferation, mobility, adhesion, and anti-thrombotic properties of vascular endothelium. Androgens also participate in important pathogenic mechanisms such as atherogenesis and vascular inflammation. Many studies indicate that androgens play a vasculoprotective role through the anti-inflammatory, anti-apoptotic, and vasodilatory actions on endothelium and VSMCs and recruitment of EPCs essential for vascular repair. However, there are studies that report the adverse vascular effects of androgens, for example, via induction of several vasoconstrictors. The causes of these dispariries are obscure, but can involve the heterogeneity of the vascular endothelium and gender-specific effects of androgens. In addition, significant spatial and temporal changes in AR expression observed in ECs and their progenitors can also contribute to the opposite effects of androgens on vascular endothelium.