Endothelial progenitor cells correlate with endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease.

Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) predict morbidity and mortality in patients at cardiovascular risk.Patients with low EPC counts and impaired endothelial colony forming activity have a higher incidence for cardiovascular events compared to patients with high EPC counts and favorable colony forming activity. The pathophysiological basis for this finding may be an insufficient endothelial cell repair by EPC.

Circulating CD31+/annexin V+ apoptotic microparticles correlate with coronary endothelial function in patients with coronary artery disease.

Objective: Endothelial dysfunction predicts morbidity and mortality in patients at cardiovascular risk. Endothelial function may be decisively influenced by the degree of endothelial cell apoptosis.

Methods And Results: To test this hypothesis in humans, endothelial-dependent vasodilatation was invasively assessed in 50 patients with coronary artery disease (CAD) by quantitative coronary angiography during intracoronary acetylcholine infusion.

Circulating endothelial progenitor cells and cardiovascular outcomes.

Background: Endothelial progenitor cells derived from bone marrow are believed to support the integrity of the vascular endothelium. The number and function of endothelial progenitor cells correlate inversely with cardiovascular risk factors, but the prognostic value associated with circulating endothelial progenitor cells has not been defined.

Methods: The number of endothelial progenitor cells positive for CD34 and kinase insert domain receptor (KDR) was determined with the use of flow cytometry in 519 patients with coronary artery disease as confirmed on angiography.