title: Maternal body-mass index and cord blood circulating endothelial colony-forming cells.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Endothelial colony-forming cells (ECFCs) are a subset of circulating endothelial progenitor cells that are particularly abundant in umbilical cord blood. We sought to determine whether ECFC abundance in cord blood is associated with maternal body-mass index (BMI) in nonpathologic pregnancies.
  
  
  METHODS
  We measured the level of ECFCs in the cord blood of neonates (n = 27) born from non-obese healthy mothers with nonpathologic pregnancies and examined whether ECFC abundance correlated with maternal BMI. We also examined the effect of maternal BMI on ECFC phenotype and function using angiogenic and vasculogenic assays.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We observed variation in ECFC abundance among subjects and found a positive correlation between prepregnancy maternal BMI and ECFC content (r = 0.51, P = .007), which was independent of other obstetric factors. Despite this variation, ECFC phenotype and functionality were deemed normal and highly similar between subjects with maternal BMI <25 kg/m(2) and BMI between 25-30 kg/m(2), including the ability to form vascular networks in vivo.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study underlines the need to consider maternal BMI as a potential confounding factor for cord blood levels of ECFCs in future comparative studies between healthy and pathologic pregnancies.
authors: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.|Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Rafael
authors: R
authors: Moreno-Luna
authors: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Rocio
authors: R
authors: Muñoz-Hernandez
authors: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors: Ruei-Zeng
authors: RZ
authors: Lin
authors: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Maria L
authors: ML
authors: Miranda
authors: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Antonio J
authors: AJ
authors: Vallejo-Vaz
authors: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Pablo
authors: P
authors: Stiefel
authors: Unidad de Asesoría Estadística, Metodología y Evaluación de Investigación. Fundación Pública Andaluza para la Gestión de la Investigación en Salud de Sevilla (FISEVI). Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Seville, Spain.
authors: Juan M
authors: JM
authors: Praena-Fernández
authors: Unidad de Gestión Clínica de Ginecología Obstetricia y Patologías Mamarias del Hospital de la Mujer, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville, Spain.
authors: Jose
authors: J
authors: Bernal-Bermejo
authors: Servicio de Bioquímica Clínica, Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío, Seville, Spain.
authors: Luis M
authors: LM
authors: Jimenez-Jimenez
authors: Instituto de Biomedicina de Sevilla (IBiS), Hospital Universitario Virgen del Rocío/CSIC/Universidad de Sevilla, Unidad Clínico-Experimental de Riesgo Vascular (UCAMI-UCERV), Seville, Spain.
authors: Jose
authors: J
authors: Villar
authors: Department of Cardiac Surgery, Boston Children's Hospital, Harvard Medical School, Boston, MA.
authors: Juan M
authors: JM
authors: Melero-Martin
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D015992:Body Mass Index; D002478:Cells, Cultured; D042783:Endothelial Cells / Q000166:cytology*; D005260:Female; D005312:Fetal Blood / Q000166:cytology*; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D011247:Pregnancy; D047928:Premature Birth / Q000097:blood; D013234:Stem Cells / Q000166:cytology*