1. Profiles of Circulating Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Obstructive Sleep Apnea
- Author
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Jae-Kyu Roh, Ki-Hwan Ji, Chang-Ho Yun, and Choong Kun Ha
- Subjects
medicine.medical_specialty ,Pathology ,medicine.diagnostic_test ,Endothelium ,business.industry ,Habitual snoring ,Apnea ,Polysomnography ,medicine.disease ,Peripheral blood ,respiratory tract diseases ,Obstructive sleep apnea ,medicine.anatomical_structure ,Internal medicine ,cardiovascular system ,Cardiology ,Medicine ,In patient ,Progenitor cell ,medicine.symptom ,business - Abstract
Objectives: Obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular diseases through endothelial damage or functional impairment. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) are blood markers for endothelial functional reservoirs, and a reduction in the number of EPCs is associated with a greater cardiovascular risk. We investigated the EPC in patients with OSA. Methods: We prospectively enrolled consecutive subjects referred to our institution for the evaluation of habitual snoring or apnea. The subjects were diagnosed as OSA based on the results of overnight polysomnography. The number of colony-forming units (CFUs) on cell cultures for seven days was adopted as an EPC index. Results: CFU tends to show higher value in severe OSA than mild-to-moderate OSA (54.4±29.1 vs. 33.8±26.8; t-test, p=0.16). Other vascular risks have no effect on CFU level Conclusions: Severe OSA may induce the release of EPC from bone-marrow to peripheral blood to compensate on-going vascular injury. Further study is required to validate the relationship between OSA and EPC.
- Published
- 2008
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