doi: 10.1161/hh1301.093953
© 2001 American Heart Association, Inc.
UltraRapid Communication |
Number and Migratory Activity of Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells Inversely Correlate With Risk Factors for Coronary Artery Disease
From the Division of Molecular Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine IV (M.V., S.F., A.A., K.A., C.U., A.M.Z., S.D.), and Department of Hematology, Internal Medicine III (H.M.), University of Frankfurt, Germany.
Correspondence to Stefanie Dimmeler, PhD, Molecular Cardiology, Department of Internal Medicine IV, University of Frankfurt, Theodor Stern-Kai 7, 60590 Frankfurt, Germany. E-mail dimmeler{at}em.uni-frankfurt.de
Abstract
Abstract—Recent
studies provide increasing evidence that postnatal neovascularization
involves bone marrow–derived circulating endothelial
progenitor cells (EPCs). The regulation of EPCs in patients with
coronary artery disease (CAD) is unclear at present.
Therefore, we determined the number and functional activity of EPCs in
45 patients with CAD and 15 healthy volunteers. The numbers of isolated
EPCs and circulating CD34/kinase insert domain receptor
(KDR)-positive precursor cells were significantly reduced in
patients with CAD by 
40% and 48%, respectively. To determine the
influence of atherosclerotic risk factors, a risk factor score
including age, sex, hypertension, diabetes, smoking, positive family
history of CAD, and LDL cholesterol levels was used. The
number of risk factors was significantly correlated with a reduction of
EPC levels (R=-0.394,
P=0.002) and CD34-/KDR-positive
cells (R=-0.537,
P<0.001). Analysis of
the individual risk factors demonstrated that smokers had significantly
reduced levels of EPCs
(P<0.001) and
CD34-/KDR-positive cells
(P=0.003). Moreover, a positive
family history of CAD was associated with reduced CD34-/KDR-positive
cells (P=0.011). Most
importantly, EPCs isolated from patients with CAD also revealed an
impaired migratory response, which was inversely correlated with the
number of risk factors
(R=-0.484,
P=0.002). By
multivariate analysis, hypertension was
identified as a major independent predictor for impaired EPC migration
(P=0.043). The present
study demonstrates that patients with CAD revealed reduced levels and
functional impairment of EPCs, which correlated with risk factors for
CAD. Given the important role of EPCs for neovascularization of
ischemic tissue, the decrease of EPC numbers and activity may
contribute to impaired vascularization in patients with CAD. The full
text of this article is available at
http://www.circresaha.org.
Key Words: coronary disease • angiogenesis • endothelium
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  Z. Li, J. C. Wu, A. Y. Sheikh, D. Kraft, F. Cao, X. Xie, M. Patel, S. S. Gambhir, R. C. Robbins, J. P. Cooke, et al. Differentiation, Survival, and Function of Embryonic Stem Cell Derived Endothelial Cells for Ischemic Heart Disease Circulation, September 11, 2007; 116(11_suppl): I-46 - I-54. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 H. Shmilovich, V. Deutsch, A. Roth, H. Miller, G. Keren, and J. George Circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with cardiac syndrome X Heart, September 1, 2007; 93(9): 1071 - 1076. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y. Michowitz, E. Goldstein, D. Wexler, D. Sheps, G. Keren, and J. George Circulating endothelial progenitor cells and clinical outcome in patients with congestive heart failure Heart, September 1, 2007; 93(9): 1046 - 1050. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 C. Murphy, G. S. Kanaganayagam, B. Jiang, P. J. Chowienczyk, R. Zbinden, M. Saha, S. Rahman, A. M. Shah, M. S. Marber, and M. T. Kearney Vascular Dysfunction and Reduced Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Young Healthy UK South Asian Men Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, April 1, 2007; 27(4): 936 - 942. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 G. L. Hoetzer, G. P. Van Guilder, H. M. Irmiger, R. S. Keith, B. L. Stauffer, and C. A. DeSouza Aging, exercise, and endothelial progenitor cell clonogenic and migratory capacity in men J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2007; 102(3): 847 - 852. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
S. Witkowski and J. M. Hagberg Progenitor cells and age: can we fight aging with exercise? J Appl Physiol, March 1, 2007; 102(3): 834 - 835. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
D. H. Walter, U. Rochwalsky, J. Reinhold, F. Seeger, A. Aicher, C. Urbich, I. Spyridopoulos, J. Chun, V. Brinkmann, P. Keul, et al. Sphingosine-1-Phosphate Stimulates the Functional Capacity of Progenitor Cells by Activation of the CXCR4-Dependent Signaling Pathway via the S1P3 Receptor Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, February 1, 2007; 27(2): 275 - 282. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
J.-S. Silvestre and Z. Mallat Arteries or Veins?: VEGF Helps EPCs Choose Their cAMP. Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, September 1, 2006; 26(9): 1934 - 1935. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
G. P. Fadini, S. Sartore, M. Albiero, I. Baesso, E. Murphy, M. Menegolo, F. Grego, S. Vigili de Kreutzenberg, A. Tiengo, C. Agostini, et al. Number and Function of Endothelial Progenitor Cells as a Marker of Severity for Diabetic Vasculopathy Arterioscler Thromb Vasc Biol, September 1, 2006; 26(9): 2140 - 2146. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
Y Wang, H E Johnsen, S Mortensen, L Bindslev, R Sejersten Ripa, M Haack-Sorensen, E Jorgensen, W Fang, and J Kastrup Changes in circulating mesenchymal stem cells, stem cell homing factor, and vascular growth factors in patients with acute ST elevation myocardial infarction treated with primary percutaneous coronary intervention Heart, June 1, 2006; 92(6): 768 - 774. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. E. Sharpe III, A. A. Teleron, B. Li, J. Price, M. S. Sands, K. Alford, and P. P. Young The Origin and in Vivo Significance of Murine and Human Culture-Expanded Endothelial Progenitor Cells Am. J. Pathol., May 1, 2006; 168(5): 1710 - 1721. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 K. Lenk, V. Adams, P. Lurz, S. Erbs, A. Linke, S. Gielen, A. Schmidt, D. Scheinert, G. Biamino, F. Emmrich, et al. Therapeutical potential of blood-derived progenitor cells in patients with peripheral arterial occlusive disease and critical limb ischaemia Eur. Heart J., September 2, 2005; 26(18): 1903 - 1909. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
A. M. Leone, S. Rutella, G. Bonanno, A. Abbate, A. G. Rebuzzi, S. Giovannini, M. Lombardi, L. Galiuto, G. Liuzzo, F. Andreotti, et al. Mobilization of bone marrow-derived stem cells after myocardial infarction and left ventricular function Eur. Heart J., June 2, 2005; 26(12): 1196 - 1204. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 D. C. Sane The endothelial life insurance plan Blood, November 1, 2004; 104(9): 2615 - 2616. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|