High Levels of Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells Are Associated with Acrotism in Patients with Takayasu Arteritis.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate the association between endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and Takayasu arteritis (TA). Subjects andMethods: A total of 39 subjects were included in this study: 12 subjects had been diagnosed with active TA, 11 had active Behçet disease (BD), and 16 were healthy controls. The EPCs, erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR), and C-reactive protein (CRP) levels of all the subjects were measured. MedCalc 15.8 software (MedCalc, Belgium) was used for all statistical analyses.

RESULTS

The level of EPCs was higher in TA patients (4.25 ± 2.56) than in the BD group (2.27 ± 2.0) and the healthy controls (2.12 ± 1.2) (p = 0.015). TA patients with acrotism (n = 4) had higher levels of EPCs compared to TA patients without acrotism (n = 8) (6.50 ± 1.73 vs. 3.12 ± 2.16, p = 0.02). A positive correlation was found between EPCs and the ESR (r = 0.723, p = 0.0079) and between EPCs and CRP in patients with TA (r = 0.769, p < 0.0034).

CONCLUSION

High levels of circulating EPCs were correlated with the CRP level and the ESR in patients with TA. These cells could be a marker for acrotism and inflammation in patients with TA.