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 Behcet 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.