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

ABSTRACT

<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>