[Effects of altitude on circulating endothelial progenitor cells and hypoxia-inducible factor-1α in patients with...

Objective: To compare the changes in the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells and hypoxia-inducible factors in patients with type 2 diabetes at different altitudes, and to provide a basis for the research and treatment of type 2 diabetes vascular complications. Methods: Selected Type 2 diabetes patients who were diagnosed in a low altitude area of 386 m (Xianyang City) and a high altitude area of 1 520 m (Lanzhou) (25 persons/29 persons) and healthy persons (20 persons/20 persons) were selected. An automatic biochemical analyzer was used to detect the indexes of blood lipids, blood glucose, and glycosylated hemoglobin of the two groups of people, and the concentration of Hypoxia inducible factor-1α (HIF-1α) was detected by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in peripheral blood was determined by a cytometer. Results: No matter in low or high altitude areas, the number of circulating EPCs in the diabetes group was lower than that in the healthy group (P＜0.01). The levels of body mass index (BMI), waist to hip ratio (WHR), triglyceride (TG), fasting blood glucose (FBG) and glycosylated hemoglobin (HbAlc) were increased (P＜0.05). Compared with the low-altitude group, the expression levels of HIF-1α in diabetic patients at high-altitude and healthy people were increased significantly (P＜0.05), while the number of circulating EPCs was decreased significantly (P＜0.05), and the number of circulating EPCs in healthy people or the patients with type 2 diabetes without vascular complications was higher than that of patients with type 2 diabetes with vascular complications (P＜0.05). Conclusion: With the increase in altitude, the expression level of HIF-1α in type 2 diabetes mellitus(T2DM)patients is increased, and the number of circulating EPCs is decreased, which is closely related to the degree of vascular disease. Therefore, it is possible through transplantation of EPCs for high altitude T2DM patients to achieve the prevention and improvement of diabetic vascular complications.