TY - JOUR T1 - Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Mixed Cryoglobulinemia JF - The Journal of Rheumatology JO - J Rheumatol DO - 10.3899/jrheum.100012 SP - jrheum.100012 AU - Francesco Marchi AU - Daniele Chimenti AU - Antonio Tavoni AU - Alessandra Della Rossa AU - Stefano Bombardieri AU - Paola Migliorini Y1 - 2010/06/01 UR - http://www.jrheum.org/content/early/2010/05/27/jrheum.100012.abstract N2 - 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. ER -