PT  - JOURNAL ARTICLE
AU  - Francesco Marchi
AU  - Daniele Chimenti
AU  - Antonio Tavoni
AU  - Alessandra Della Rossa
AU  - Stefano Bombardieri
AU  - Paola Migliorini
TI  - Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Mixed Cryoglobulinemia
AID  - 10.3899/jrheum.100012
DP  - 2010 Jun 01
TA  - The Journal of Rheumatology
PG  - jrheum.100012
4099  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2010/05/27/jrheum.100012.short
4100  - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2010/05/27/jrheum.100012.full
AB  - Objective Endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) are a rare population of circulating cells involved in vascular homeostasis. Our aim was to analyze EPC in patients with mixed cryoglobulinemia (MC). Methods EPC were evaluated by cytometry according to guidelines of the International Society for Hematotherapy and Graft Engineering in 17 patients with MC and 36 controls. Results Numbers of EPC were significantly increased in MC compared to controls and correlated with cryocrit, but not with clinical manifestations of the disease. Conclusion The high number of EPC might indicate an intact vascular repair ability. Alternatively, EPC might be defective in homing ability and their increase may represent the attempt to restore vascular integrity.