title: Endothelial progenitor cells in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.
abstract: The pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to compare circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to age, sex, and cigarette smoking matched healthy controls. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 37) and healthy controls (n = 19) were matched by age, sex, and smoking status. Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (CD34(+) or CD133(+) mononuclear cells) and endothelial progenitor cells (CD34(+)KDR(+) or CD34(+)CD133(+)KDR(+) mononuclear cells) were quantified by flow cytometry. Endothelial cell-colony forming units from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were quantified in vitro and phenotypic analysis carried out using immunocytochemistry. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had more circulating mononuclear cells compared with controls (8.4 ± 0.6 vs. 5.9 ± 0.4 × 10(9) cells/l; P = 0.02). CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells were reduced as a proportion of mononuclear cells in patients compared with controls (0.99 ± 0.12 vs. 1.9 ± 0.12%; P = 0.02); however, there were no differences in the absolute number of CD34(+), CD34(+)KDR(+), or CD34(+)CD133(+)KDR(+) cells (P > 0.05 for all). Endothelial cell-colony forming units were increased in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with controls (13.7 ± 5.2 vs. 2.7 ± 0.9 colonies; P = 0.048). In contrast to previous studies, the number of circulating progenitor cells was not reduced in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with carefully matched controls. It seems unlikely that circulating endothelial progenitor cells or failure of angiogenesis plays a central role in the development of emphysema.
authors.affiliation: BHF/Univ. Centre for Cardiovascular Science, The Univ. of Edinburgh, Scottish Centre for Regenerative Medicine, Little France Crescent, Edinburgh EH16 4UU, UK. mbrittan@staffmail.ed.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Mairi
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Brittan
authors.forename: Mathilde M
authors.initials: MM
authors.lastname: Hoogenboom
authors.forename: Gareth J
authors.initials: GJ
authors.lastname: Padfield
authors.forename: Olga
authors.initials: O
authors.lastname: Tura
authors.forename: Takeshi
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Fujisawa
authors.forename: John D
authors.initials: JD
authors.lastname: Maclay
authors.forename: William
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Macnee
authors.forename: Nicholas L
authors.initials: NL
authors.lastname: Mills
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D015703:Antigens, CD / Q000276:immunology; D002454:Cell Differentiation / Q000276:immunology / Q000502:physiology; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007963:Leukocytes, Mononuclear / Q000166:cytology / Q000276:immunology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D029424:Pulmonary Disease, Chronic Obstructive / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*
chemical_list: D015703:Antigens, CD
keywords: COPD; circulating endothelial progenitor cells; endothelial cell-colony forming unit; hematopoietic stem cells