title: Circulating proangiogenic cell activity is associated with cardiovascular disease risk.
abstract: Vascular injury mobilizes bone marrow-derived proangiogenic cells into the circulation, where these cells can facilitate vascular repair and new vessel formation. We sought to determine the relationship between a new biomarker of circulating bone marrow-derived proangiogenic cell activity, the presence of atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease (CVD) and its risk factors, and clinical outcomes. Circulating proangiogenic cell activity was estimated using a reproducible angiogenic colony-forming unit (CFU-A) assay in 532 clinically stable subjects aged 20 to 90 years and ranging in the CVD risk spectrum from those who are healthy without risk factors to those with active CVD. CFU-A counts increased with the burden of CVD risk factors (p < 0.001). CFU-A counts were higher in subjects with symptomatic CVD than in those without (p < 0.001). During follow-up of 232 subjects with CVD, CFU-A counts were higher in those with death, myocardial infarction, or stroke than in those without (110 [70-173] vs 84 [51-136], p = 0.01). Therefore, we conclude that circulating proangiogenic cell activity, as estimated by CFU-A counts, increases with CVD risk factor burden and in the presence of established CVD. Furthermore, higher circulating proangiogenic cell activity is associated with worse clinical outcome in those with CVD.
authors.affiliation: Department of Medicine, Emory University, Atlanta, GA, USA. kmavro@emory.edu
authors.forename: Kreton
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Mavromatis
authors.forename: Konstantinos
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Aznaouridis
authors.forename: Ibhar
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Al Mheid
authors.forename: Emir
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Veledar
authors.forename: Saurabh
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Dhawan
authors.forename: Jonathan R
authors.initials: JR
authors.lastname: Murrow
authors.forename: Zohreh
authors.initials: Z
authors.lastname: Forghani
authors.forename: Diane J
authors.initials: DJ
authors.lastname: Sutcliffe
authors.forename: Nima
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ghasemzadeh
authors.forename: R Wayne
authors.initials: RW
authors.lastname: Alexander
authors.forename: W Robert
authors.initials: WR
authors.lastname: Taylor
authors.forename: Arshed A
authors.initials: AA
authors.lastname: Quyyumi
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D050197:Atherosclerosis / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000097:blood; D002318:Cardiovascular Diseases / Q000097:blood* / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000473:pathology; D003114:Colony-Forming Units Assay; D005260:Female; D006412:Hematopoietic Stem Cells / Q000473:pathology*; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009203:Myocardial Infarction / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology; D009204:Myocardial Revascularization; D012307:Risk Factors; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D020521:Stroke / Q000097:blood / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000473:pathology
chemical_list: D015415:Biomarkers