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Endothelial Progenitor Cells and Abdominal Aortic Aneurysms
Author(s) -
DAWSON JOE,
TOOZE JENNY,
COCKERILL GILLIAN,
CHOKE EDWARD,
LOFTUS IAN,
THOMPSON MATT M.
Publication year - 2006
Publication title -
annals of the new york academy of sciences
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.712
H-Index - 248
eISSN - 1749-6632
pISSN - 0077-8923
DOI - 10.1196/annals.1383.011
Subject(s) - progenitor cell , cd34 , angiogenesis , peripheral blood mononuclear cell , medicine , flow cytometry , population , progenitor , endothelial progenitor cell , stem cell , pathology , immunology , biology , microbiology and biotechnology , in vitro , biochemistry , environmental health
Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are a population of circulating stem cells that hone in to sites of vascular injury where they undergo differentiation to become incorporated into damaged tissue. The aim of this study was to enumerate EPCs in patients with abdominal aortic aneurysms (AAA). CD133 + peripheral blood mononuclear cells were immunomagnetically selected and CD34/CD133 was used as a marker of EPCs. EPCs were detected using flow cytometry. AAA patients had significantly higher levels of circulating EPCs than age‐matched controls (2.43% vs. 1.25% of all events, P = 0.008). The role and function of EPCs in AAA remain to be determined, but their implication with angiogenesis may represent one plausible mechanism.