Effects of homocysteine on number and activity of endothelial progenitor cells from peripheral blood / 中国病理生理杂志

AIM: To investigate whether homocysteine (Hcy) has influences on endothelial progenitor cell (EPCs) number and activity from peripheral blood. METHODS: Total mononuclear cells (MNCs) were plated on fibronectin-coated culture dishes and cultured for 7 days, and then attached cells were stimulated with Hcy or vehicle control for 6 h, 12 h, 24 h and 48 h. The adhesion, proliferation, migration and in vitro vasculogenesis activity of EPCs were assayed, respectively. RESULTS: Incubation of isolated human MNCs with Hcy dose and time-dependently decreased the number of EPCs with maximum at 200 (?mol/L) for 24 hours (35.7?6.7 vs 62.5?10.6, P