Levels and values of circulating endothelial progenitor cells,soluble angiogenic factors,and mononuclear cell apoptosis in liver cirrhosis patients

Background: the roles of circulating endothelial progenitor cell (epc) and mononuclear cell apoptosis (mca) in liver cirrhosis (lc) patients are unknown. moreover,vascular endothelial growth factor (vegf) and stromal cell-derived factor (sdf)-1α are powerful endogenous substances enhancing epc migration into circulation. we assessed the level and function of epcs [cd31/cd34 (e 1),kdr/cd34 (e2),cxcr4/cd34 (e3)],levels of mca,vegf and sdf-1α in circulation of lc patients. methods: blood sample was prospectively collected once for assessing epc level and function,mca,and plasma levels of vegf and sdf-1α using flow cytometry and enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (elisa),respectively,in 78 lc patients and 25 age- and gender-matched healthy controls. results: number of epcs (e1,e 2,e3) was lower (all p<0.0001),whereas sdf-1α level and mca were higher (p<0.001) in study patients compared with healthy controls. number of epcs (e2,e3) was higher but mca was lower (all p<0.05) in child's class a compared with child's class b and c patients,although no difference in vegf and sdf-1α levels were noted among these patients. chronic hepatitis b and esophageal varices bleeding were independently,whereas chronic hepatitis c,elevated aspartate aminotransferase (ast),and decompensated lc were inversely and independently correlated with circulating epc level (all p<0.03). additionally,angiogenesis and transwell migratory ability of epcs were reduced in lc patients than in controls (all p<0.001). conclusion: the results of this study demonstrated that level,angiogenic capacity,and function of circulating epcs were significantly reduced,whereas plasma levels of sdf-1α and circulating mca were substantially enhanced in cirrhotic patients. © 2012 chen et al.; licensee biomed central ltd.