Low levels of endothelial progenitor cells correlate with disease duration and activity in patients with Behçet disease

CER146
2009 Vol.27, N°5
PI 0814, PF 0821
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PMID: 19917165 [PubMed]

Received: 16/01/2009
Accepted : 20/05/2009
In Press: 03/12/2009
Published: 03/12/2009

Abstract

OBJECTIVES:
We tested whether Behçet`s disease (BD) is characterized by alterations of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs),which are involved in vascular homeostasis and repair.
METHODS:
We enrolled 30 BD patients and 27 matched healthy controls. EPCs were defined and measured by flow cytometry according to the expression of CD34, CD133 and KDR.
RESULTS:
We show that BD patients had significantly lower levels of CD34+KDR+ and D34+CD133+KDR+ EPCs than controls. We found significant negative correlations between EPC phenotypes and BD duration, while there were positive correlations between CD34+KDR+ EPCs and both BD activity scores and C-reactive protein. The lower EPC levels with increasing disease duration was shown in univariate analysis and in multivariable analysis adjusted for possible confounders.
CONCLUSIONS:
This is the first report that BD is associated with progressive EPC decline. Reduction of EPCs may represent a mechanism of induction and/or progression of vascular injury in these patients.