Decreased Levels Of Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells In Patients With Unruptured Intracranial Aneurysms

Objective:To investigate the morphology, growth and counts of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood of patients with unruptured intracranial aneurysms(UIAs). Method: Twenty-four patients of UIA Group and 16 of Control Group were analysed. Mononuclear cells from peripheral blood were harvested by density gradient centrifugation. Then the cells were seeded onto a bottle which was precoated with human fibronectin and cultured in medium EGM-2MV supplemented with vascular endothelial growth factor-165 and basic fibroblast growth factor. The proliferation course of EPCs was observed. After fourteen-day culturing, the adherent cells were identified through morphology observation and the colony count was performed under microscope. The biological functions of adherent cells were examined with laser confocal microscope. The double dyeing positivity, that is adsorption of Ulex europaeus agglutinin-1 (UEA-1) labeled by fluorescein isothiocyanate (FITC) and Dil-acLDL internalization, were considered as EPCs. Flow cytometry was used to count the EPCs by identifying three cell surface markers:CD34, CD 133 and VEGFR-2. The number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells between the two groups was compared, and the correlation of the maximum aneurysm diameter and the number of circulating EPCs was analyzed.Results:1,The counts of endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood were significantly lower in patientswith UIAs [(5.1±1.5)×104] than that in control group [(43.3±29.8)×104] (P<0.05). Moreover, the portion of CD34+/CD133+/VEGFR-2+cells were significantly decreased in patients with UIAs than that in controls (6.94%±1.78% vs 17.83%±3.41%,P<0.05).2, The value of triglycerides in patients with UIA [(1.86±1.37) mmol/L] was significantly higher than that of control group [(1.58±0.98) mmol/L], (P<0.05); The cholesterol is significantly higher in UIA [(3.85±1.67) mmol/L] than that of healthy control group [(3.67±1.26) mmol/L],(P<0.05); HDL significantly less in intracranial aneurysms is [(1.08±0.26) mmol/L] than that of healthy control group [(1.96±0.64) mmol/L], (P<0.05).3,A total of 24 patients were recruited in UIAs group, the maximum aneurysm diameters were (5.4±3.4) mm. No significant correlation between the maximum aneurysm diameters and EPCs counts in patient group has been shown (P> 0.05)Conclusion:The results shew that the number of EPCs in UIAs group was significantly lower than that of control group. Further study on the role of EPCs in UIAs may be promising in future.