Hans-Dirk Duuml;ngen1# Author

Research Article Open Access

Test-Retest Reliability of Flow-Cytometric Quantification of Circulating Endothelial Cells and Endothelial Progenitor Cells in Cardiovascular Diseases

Author(s):

Josephine Wagner1, Fabian Weisrock1, Max Fritschka2, Sebastian Beckmann1, Simon Litmeier1, Elvis Tahirovic1, Sara Radenovic3, Andreas Busjahn4, Thomas Krahn5, Wilfried Dinh6* and Hans-Dirk Düngen1*#

Circulating Endothelial Cells (CECs) and Endothelial Progenitor Cells (EPCs) are gaining importance as quantifiable surrogate biomarkers of Endothelial Dysfunction (ED). Lack of a common definition and, consequently, a standardized quantification method, has limited clinical applicability of these biomarkers. A reliable, reproducible, and practicable method is required to achieve the full potential of these parameters. The objective of this study was to evaluate the test- retest reliability over a short period of time (~7 days) of flow cytometric quantification of CECs and EPCs in human whole blood from patients with cardiovascular disease. 100 patients (mean age, 65 ± 10 years, 30 women) were enrolled into a prospective study consisting of 4 patients groups: heart failure with r... view more»

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