Endothelial progenitor cell

Cell biology

Biology

Endothelial stem cell

Angiogenesis

Vasculogenesis

Stem cell

Biochemistry

Environmental health

Neovascularization

Endothelial dysfunction

Immunology

Genetics

Progenitor cell

Bioinformatics

In vitro

Population

Internal medicine

Medicine

Disease

Nature Reviews Rheumatology

The observations that traditional cardiovascular disease (CVD) risk factors fail to fully account for the excessive cardiovascular mortality in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) compared with the general population have prompted in-depth investigations of non-traditional, SLE-related risk factors that contribute to cardiovascular complications in patients with SLE. Of the various perturbations of vascular physiology, endothelial dysfunction, which is believed to occur in the earliest step of atherosclerosis, has been extensively investigated for its contribution to CVD risk in SLE. Endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs), which play a crucial part in vascular repair, neovascularization and maintenance of endothelial function, are quantitatively and functionally reduced in patients with SLE. Yet, the lack of a unified definition of EPCs, standardization of the quantity and functional assessment of EPCs as well as endothelial function measurement pose challenges to the translation of endothelial function measurements and EPC levels into prognostic markers for CVD in patients with SLE. This Review discusses factors that contribute to CVD in SLE, with particular focus on how endothelial function and EPCs are evaluated currently, and how EPCs are quantitatively and functionally altered in patients with SLE. Potential strategies for the use of endothelial function measurements and EPC quantification as prognostic markers of CVD in patients with SLE, and the limitations of their prognostication potential, are also discussed. Endothelial progenitor cells are essential for the maintenance of endothelial function, which in turn is crucial for cardiovascular physiology. The reduced function and numbers of endothelial progenitor cells in individuals with systemic lupus erythematosus could contribute to the excessive cardiovascular disease mortality in this patient population.

Endothelial function and endothelial progenitor cells in systemic lupus erythematosus