The relationship between peripheral blood endothelial progenitor cell counts and function and carotid atherosclerotic plaque nature

Objective To explore relationship between the nature of carotid atherosclerotic plaque and the number and function of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood. Methods A prospective study of 80 carotid atherosclerotic plaque patients were selected from June 2016 to March 2017 in Guangdong Second Provincial General Hospital.All patients were examined with Cranial magnetic resonance imaging or X-ray computed tomography, pathological examination, carotid artery color Doppler ultrasonography.Patients were divided into hard plaque group (n=42) and soft plaque group (n=38) according to the nature of carotid atherosclerotic plaque.Forty healthy subjects were selected as controls.Monocytes were obtained from 10 ml of elbow venous blood by density gradient centrifugation.Adherent cells were cultured and identified by confocal laser microscopy.The number, migration, proliferation and adhesion of EPCs in soft plaque group and hard plaque group were evaluated. Results The number of proliferating cells(0.847±0.037), migrating cells(27.697±8.248) and adherent cells(46.184±7.876) in the normal control group were significantly higher than those in the hard plaque group ((0.647±0.019), (18.643±3.289), (32.165±4.325)) and the soft plaque group ((0.679±0.023), (23.576±6.327), (40.587±6.523))(all P<0.001), while the proliferation, migration and adherent cells in the hard plaque group were lower than those in the soft plaque group (all P<0.001). Conclusion The nature of carotid atherosclerosis plaque is closely related to the number and function of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood.The number of endothelial progenitor cells in carotid atherosclerosis patients with hard plaque is small, and their proliferation, migration and adhesion ability are impaired. Key words: Carotid atherosclerosis; Endothelial progenitor cells; Carotid atherosclerosis plaque; Plaque nature