Nevskaya T et al. – In early stage systemic sclerosis (SSc) mobilization of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in response to tissue ischemia was preserved, but dropped with disease progression. EPC reduction may contribute to endothelial dysfunction and impaired angiogenesis, leading to the development of severe vascular life-threatening complications of SSc. Methods
Study to analyze in SSc the number of circulating EPCs and their contribution into cardiovascular involvement
EPC circulating levels were evaluated in 40 SSc pts and 24 controls by FACS
Their correlations with peripheral vascular manifestations, heart involvement, Framingham risk score, carotid artery disease, endothelial function and morphological signs of microangiopathy were studied
Results
Early stage SSc and high disease activity were accompanied by a rise in circulating EPC levels in association with increased membrane expression of Fas
This was correlated positively with severity of peripheral vascular manifestations
EPC reduction with disease progression was linked with endothelial dysfunction and capillary loss
It showed a strong relation to the development of severe internal organ involvement and pulmonary hypertension
There was a tendency to decreased EPC levels in SSc pts with low HDL values
However, no correlations were found between EPCs and Framingham risk factor score, carotid artery IMT and traditional cv risk factors
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