Association among circulating endothelial progenitor cells, insulin resistance and severity of coronary lesions in patients with coronary artery disease / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the correlation between the number and activity of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), insulin resistance and severity of coronary lesions in patients with coronary artery disease (CAD).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>Patients with coronary angiography evidenced CAD were divided in insulin resistance group (IR, n = 25) and insulin sensitive group (IS, n = 44) according to insulin level, 25 health volunteers served as control. Circulating EPCs were marked as KDR/CD133+ cells via fluorescence-activated cell sorter analysis. EPCs were also isolated from peripheral blood and cultured in vitro for 7 days, identified by DiI-acLDL uptake and lectin staining methods. EPCs migration activities were determined by modified Boyden chamber assay, EPCs proliferation activities were determined by MTT assay.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Circulating EPCs number was significantly lower in IR group compared with IS group [(0.34 +/- 0.08) per thousand vs. (0.47 +/- 0.09) per thousand, P < 0.01] and control group (P < 0.05). Both insulin resistance index (r = -0.291, P = 0.01)and Gensini score (r = -0.3984, P = 0.006)were negatively correlated with number of circulating EPCs. Proliferation and migration capacities of EPCs were also significantly lower in IR group compared to those in IS group (all P < 0.05) and control group (all P < 0.05).</p><p><b>CONCLUSIONS</b>Insulin resistance/hyperinsulinemia could aggravate severity of coronary artery lesions via reducing the number and activities of circulating EPCs in patients with CAD.</p>

The role of cyclooxygenase on angiogenesis and endothelial progenitor cell mobilization in rat ischemic myocardium / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of COX1 and COX2 on angiogenesis and endothelial progenitor cell mobilization in rats with experimental myocardial infarction (MI).</p><p><b>METHODS</b>The rats were randomly divided into 3 groups: MI group, MI plus rofecoxib group and MI plus valeryl salicylate group. At the 7th day after operation, circulating EPCs, plasma VEGF and HIF-1alpha mRNA of ischemic myocardium were measured. At the 28th day post operation, capillary densities were also measured in ischemic myocardium.</p><p><b>RESULT</b>Compared with the MI group and the MI plus valeryl salicylate group, circulating EPCs, plasma VEGF, HIF-1alpha mRNA and capillary densities of ischemic myocardium were all decreased in MI plus rofecoxib group.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>The present study revealed that COX2 play an important role with angiogenesis and endothelial progenitor cell mobilization in rat with experimental MI by modulating expression of VEGF and HIF-1alpha.</p>

Sirolimus inhibits the differentiation, proliferation and migration of endothelial progenitor cells in vitro / 中华心血管病杂志

<p><b>OBJECTIVE</b>To investigate the effect of sirolimus on differentiation, proliferation, adhesion and migration of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) in vitro.</p><p><b>METHODS</b>(1) Mononuclear cells (MNC) were isolated from rat bone marrow by Ficoll density gradient centrifugation and cultured on fibronectin-coated culture dishes with or without sirolimus (0.01 - 100 ng/ml) for 12 days. (2) After 8 days cultured, attached cells were treated with sirolimus (0.1 - 200 ng/ml) or vehicle for various time points (12 h, 24 h, 48 h and 96 h). EPC were identified as adherent cells double positive stained for FITC-UEA-I and DiI-acLDL under laser confocal immunofluence microscope. EPC proliferation, migration were assayed with MTT assay and modified Boyden chamber assay respectively.</p><p><b>RESULTS</b>EPC number differentiated from MNC at 12 days was significantly lower in sirolimus treated cells in a dose-dependent manner than that of vehicle-treated cells. Sirolimus also significantly inhibited the proliferative, migratory and adhesive capacity of EPC in a time and dose dependent manner.</p><p><b>CONCLUSION</b>Present results suggested that sirolimus could inhibit EPC differentiation from MNC and reduce the proliferation, migration and adhesion capacities of EPC.</p>