Circulating endothelial cells as biomarker for cardiovascular diseases

Area of Science:

• Cardiovascular Research
• Biomarker Discovery
• Flow Cytometry

Background:

• Endothelial dysfunction is implicated in cardiovascular diseases.
• Circulating endothelial cells (CECs) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) may serve as diagnostic biomarkers.
• Current methods for quantifying rare CECs and EPCs lack validation.

Purpose of the Study:

• To develop and validate a flow cytometric assay for quantifying CECs and EPCs in human whole blood.
• To assess the clinical utility of CECs and EPCs as biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction.

Main Methods:

• Optimized assay sensitivity, robustness, and sample storage for clinical application.
• Analyzed CECs and EPCs in patients with heart failure (HFpEF, HFrEF), arterial hypertension (aHT), and diabetic nephropathy (DN) versus healthy controls.

Main Results:

• The developed assay demonstrated high sensitivity and reproducibility.
• Significantly elevated CEC levels were observed in patients with DN and HFpEF compared to controls.
• CEC quantification achieved 90% diagnostic sensitivity for DN and notable sensitivity for HFpEF and aHT.

Conclusions:

• A robust and precise assay for quantifying CECs and EPCs has been established for clinical and pre-clinical use.
• CEC counts are a valuable diagnostic biomarker for diabetic nephropathy and heart failure with preserved ejection fraction.