Letters to the Editor |
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
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