title: Endothelial colony forming capacity is related to C-reactive protein levels in healthy subjects.
abstract: The majority of clinical studies on endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) focuses on the role of these cells in cardiovascular diseases and no systematic studies exist regarding their variations in healthy subjects. In order to define the burden of angiogenesis in physiological conditions we assessed the frequency of peripheral blood endothelial colonies (PB-ECs) and their relation with other factors possibly involved in their function such as high-sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP), endothelial cell-specific mitogen factor (VEGF) and tissue inhibitor of metalloproteinases-1 (TIMP-1) in a highly selected healthy population. A PB sample was obtained from 37/47 healthy subjects (age 40.2+/-15.0yrs; M/F 15/22) without known cardiovascular risk factors. The serum level of hs-CRP, VEGF, TIMP-1, the frequency of PB-ECs by clonogenic assay, and the number of early EPCs and late EPCs by flow cytometry analysis were evaluated. PB-ECs were formed by 40.5% of studied subjects with a mean of 0.40+/-0.82 colonies/10(6) cells. The differences in the frequency of colony formation between genders were not statistically significant. The subjects with PB-ECs were characterized by higher values of hs-CRP, when compared with those not forming colonies, 0.276+/-0.230 vs 0.095+/-0.077 mg/l (p=0.003) respectively, and of VEGF, 328.3+/-162.9 vs 202.68+/-118.53 pg/ml (p=0.02). No significant differences were found in TIMP-1 values. The EPC clonogenic potential seems to be related to hs-CRP and VEGF levels even in healthy population supporting the concept that these mediators are involved in physiological ECs function.
authors.affiliation: Istituto di Medicina Cardiovascolare, Centro di Fisiologia Clinica e Ipertensione, Università di Milano, Fondazione Ospedale Maggiore Policlinico, Mangiagalli e Regina Elena, IRCCS, Italy. michele.ciulla@unimi.it
authors.forename: Michele M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Ciulla
authors.forename: Alessandra
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Giorgetti
authors.forename: Ilaria
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Silvestris
authors.forename: Michela
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Cortiana
authors.forename: Elisa
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Montelatici
authors.forename: Roberta
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Paliotti
authors.forename: Giuseppe A
authors.initials: GA
authors.lastname: Annoni
authors.forename: Anna Valeria
authors.initials: AV
authors.lastname: Fiore
authors.forename: Rosaria
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: Giordano
authors.forename: Federico
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: De Marco
authors.forename: Fabio
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Magrini
authors.forename: Paolo
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Rebulla
authors.forename: Agostino
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Cortelezzi
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Lazzari
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000378:metabolism*; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000503:physiopathology; D015331:Cohort Studies; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D005434:Flow Cytometry; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology / Q000378:metabolism*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018919:Neovascularization, Physiologic / Q000502:physiology*; D012016:Reference Values; D012307:Risk Factors; D012727:Sex Characteristics; D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1 / Q000097:blood; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D019715:Tissue Inhibitor of Metalloproteinase-1; D042461:Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor A; D002097:C-Reactive Protein