title: Endothelial progenitor cell trafficking in human immunodeficiency virus-infected persons.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Human immunodeficiency virus (HIV)-infected people exhibit a high incidence of vascular diseases. Since in the general population the high cardiovascular risk has been associated with an impaired endothelial cell function, we investigated circulating endothelial progenitor cells in HIV-positive patients.
  
  
  METHODS
  We evaluated circulating colony-forming unit-endothelial cell (CFU-EC) and endothelial colony-forming cell (ECFC) progenitors in 14 antiviral therapy-naive HIV-positive patients, in comparison with 15 normal controls.
  
  
  METHODS
  CFU-EC and ECFC derived from peripheral blood mononuclear cells from HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected individuals were recovered and evaluated for HIV genome presence by PCR. Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) and apolipoprotein B mRNA-editing enzyme catalytic polypeptide like (APOBEC) subunits expression were evaluated in infected colonies by real-time PCR.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that circulating CFU-EC but not ECFC were significantly reduced in HIV-positive patients and that proviral HIV DNA was detectable only in CFU-EC but not in ECFC. Furthermore, the expression of APOBEC subunits was significantly lower in CFU-EC than in circulating monocytes. Accordingly, the CFU-EC displayed a high content of proviral DNA copies, suggesting that these cells have a high sensitivity to the HIV infection.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Although HIV does not affect the 'true endothelial progenitor' compartment, it infects and strongly depletes circulating endothelial progenitors with hematopoietic signature. We unravel a novel pathogenetic mechanism by which HIV infection might cause vascular diseases.
authors.affiliation: Department of Hematology, Catholic University, Rome, Italy.
authors.forename: Luciana
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Teofili
authors.forename: Maria G
authors.initials: MG
authors.lastname: Iachininoto
authors.forename: Sara
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Capodimonti
authors.forename: Claudio
authors.initials: C
authors.lastname: Ucciferri
authors.forename: Eugenia R
authors.initials: ER
authors.lastname: Nuzzolo
authors.forename: Maurizio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Martini
authors.forename: Lorenza
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Torti
authors.forename: Katia
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Falasca
authors.forename: Jacopo
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Vecchiet
authors.forename: Giuseppe
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Leone
authors.forename: Luigi M
authors.initials: LM
authors.lastname: Larocca
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology* / Q000821:virology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D005260:Female; D015870:Gene Expression; D015658:HIV Infections / Q000235:genetics / Q000473:pathology*; D015497:HIV-1 / Q000502:physiology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D021381:Protein Transport / Q000235:genetics; D020133:Reverse Transcriptase Polymerase Chain Reaction; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000378:metabolism*; D014779:Virus Replication / Q000502:physiology*; D055815:Young Adult