[Number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells inversely correlate with the severity of coronary artery disease in patients with stable coronary artery disease].

OBJECTIVE: To investigate whether the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) correlate with the severity of coronary stenosis in patients with stable coronary artery disease (CAD). METHODS: 80 consecutive patients who underwent coronary angiography (exclusion of acute coronary syndrome and myocardial infarction) were enrolled. Physical examination and blood tests were performed to assess the disease severity and cardiovascular risk factors. Circulating EPCs as measured by the number of CD133/KDR double positive cells were detected by FACS. RESULTS: The number of EPCs inversely correlated with age, creatinine clearance (Ccr) and left ventricular mass index (LVMI) (P = 0.004, 0.015, 0.014 respectively). Patients with hypertension showed significant reduction in number of EPCs compared to those without hypertension (P = 0.004). Moreover, the number of EPCs in patients with coronary artery disease was significantly lower than that of those with normal coronary artery (P < 0.01). EPCs also inversely correlated with angiographic Gensini score (n = 49, r = -0.305, P = 0.039). CONCLUSIONS: In patients with stable CAD, the numbers of circulating EPCs correlate with the severity of CAD as well as cardiovascular risk factors.