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(Arteriosclerosis, Thrombosis, and Vascular Biology. 2007;27:1864.)
© 2007 American Heart Association, Inc.

Letters to the Editor

Reconstituted HDL Increases Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Patients With Type 2 Diabetes

O. van Oostrom; M. Nieuwdorp; P.E. Westerweel; I.E. Hoefer; R. Basser; E.S.G. Stroes; M.C. Verhaar

From the Department of Vascular Medicine (O.v.O., P.E.W., M.C.V.), Department of Experimental Cardiology (I.E.H.), University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands; Department of Vascular Medicine (M.N., E.S.G.S.), Academic Medical Center Amsterdam, the Netherlands; and CSL Limited (R.B.), Parkville, Australia.

Correspondence to M.C. Verhaar, Department of Vascular Medicine, University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. E-mail m.c.verhaar@umcutrecht.nl

An extract of the first 250 words of the full text is provided, because this article has no abstract.

Recent articles in this journal suggest a new role for HDL in endothelial progenitor cell (EPC)-mediated endothelial repair.^1,2 We investigated the effect of increasing HDL levels by systemic infusion of reconstituted HDL (rHDL)³ on EPC availability in patients with type 2 diabetes (DM2). Patients with DM2 have reduced availability and impaired function of EPCs,⁴ indicative of impaired vascular repair.⁵ Our data show for the first time that a beneficial effect of increasing HDL levels on EPC biology also occurs in humans.

Seven patients with uncomplicated DM2 (age 53.6±3.0years; 3 females/4 males; glycosylated hemoglobin A1c 7.1±0.3%) were included in the study. The institutional review board approved the study, and all subjects gave written informed consent. Patients used only metformin. They had mild dyslipidemia (total cholesterol 5.6±0.4mmol/L; LDL cholesterol 2.9±0.6mmol/L; HDL cholesterol 1.1±0.2mmol/L; triglycerides 1.5±0.4mmol/L). Patients received systemic rHDL infusion (80 mg/kg body weight for 4 hours, CSL-111, CSL Behring AG).^3,6 rHDL consists of apolipoprotein A-I (apoA-I) isolated from human plasma and phosphatidylcholine (PC) from soy bean. ApoA-I and PC are combined in a molar ratio of 1:150, and form disc-shaped noncovalently-associated particles resembling nascent HDL.

Patients’ blood samples were drawn before (baseline), directly (t=7) after, 24 hours (t=24) after, and 7 days (t=7d) after rHDL-infusion. ApoA-I plasma levels were measured by rate nephelometry. Circulating EPCs, defined as CD34⁺VEGFR-2⁺-cells, and hematopoietic CD34⁺-cells were determined in peripheral blood by flow cytometry.⁷ Data are presented as mean±SEM, and comparisons between groups were made by 1-way ANOVA for repeated measurements. A probability . . . [Full Text of this Article]