Endothelial progenitor cells in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

Abstract

The pathogenesis of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease is not fully understood. The objective of this study was to compare circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease to age, sex, and cigarette smoking matched healthy controls. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (n = 37) and healthy controls (n = 19) were matched by age, sex, and smoking status. Circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells (CD34(+) or CD133(+) mononuclear cells) and endothelial progenitor cells (CD34(+)KDR(+) or CD34(+)CD133(+)KDR(+) mononuclear cells) were quantified by flow cytometry. Endothelial cell-colony forming units from peripheral blood mononuclear cells were quantified in vitro and phenotypic analysis carried out using immunocytochemistry. Patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease had more circulating mononuclear cells compared with controls (8.4 ± 0.6 vs. 5.9 ± 0.4 × 10(9) cells/l; P = 0.02). CD34(+) hematopoietic progenitor cells were reduced as a proportion of mononuclear cells in patients compared with controls (0.99 ± 0.12 vs. 1.9 ± 0.12%; P = 0.02); however, there were no differences in the absolute number of CD34(+), CD34(+)KDR(+), or CD34(+)CD133(+)KDR(+) cells (P > 0.05 for all). Endothelial cell-colony forming units were increased in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with controls (13.7 ± 5.2 vs. 2.7 ± 0.9 colonies; P = 0.048). In contrast to previous studies, the number of circulating progenitor cells was not reduced in patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease compared with carefully matched controls. It seems unlikely that circulating endothelial progenitor cells or failure of angiogenesis plays a central role in the development of emphysema.

Hallmarks of the ageing lung

“…PASCHALAKI et al [118] reported that endothelial progenitor cells from smokers and COPD patients exhibit evidence of DNA damage and senescence and thus possess impaired repair function. However, others have reported decreased hematopoietic progenitors, but unchanged numbers of circulating endothelial progenitor cells in COPD patients [119,120]. Moreover, dysfunction of other potential progenitor cell types, such as mesenchymal stromal cells (MSCs), has been associated with reduced repair capacity in a murine post-pneumectomy model [121].…”

The role of bone marrow-derived endothelial progenitor cells and angiogenic responses in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease

“…The EPC-CFU assay was originally discovered by Hill et al (41). Variation in these studies findings may be attributed to differences in smoking history and co-morbidities between the subject populations.…”

Coming to terms with tissue engineering and regenerative medicine in the lung

“…(22,47). In this regard, adult stem cells are thought to represent a potential cell source for lung repair (14,24,81,106,109,130,133,168). Furthermore, 3-D scaffolds reseeded with lung progenitors and stem cells, with additional stimuli via growth factors and mechanical forces (simulating those in the native lung) have been shown to induce cellular differentiation and formation of anatomically appropriate lung tissue (122,166).…”