Main clinical characteristics and metabolic data at baseline (day 1) and discharge (day 5) of type 2 diabetic patients (n = 12) included in the interventional study.

<p>Main clinical characteristics and metabolic data at baseline (day 1) and discharge (day 5) of type 2 diabetic patients (n = 12) included in the interventional study.</p

Correlations of fasting plasma glucose (a) and HbA1c (b) with phagocytic activity in the whole population.

<p>White circles, non-diabetic patients (fasting glucose: r = −0.419, p = 0.058; HbA1c: r = −0.011, p = 0.956); black circles, type 2 diabetic patients (fasting glucose: r = −0.601, p = 0.004; HbA1c: r = −0.506, p = 0.019).</p

Flow cytometry graphic measuring phagocytic activity in a representative case of type 2 diabetic patient before (a) and after (b) 5-day intensification treatment of blood glucose.

<p>Flow cytometry graphic measuring phagocytic activity in a representative case of type 2 diabetic patient before (a) and after (b) 5-day intensification treatment of blood glucose.</p

Intermittent hypobaric hypoxia and light aerobic exercise increase circulating haematopoietic stem cells in rats during skeletal muscle damage recovery

<p>Intermittent hypobaric hypoxia and light aerobic exercise could be beneficial for a skeletal muscle damage recovery. Rats combining hypoxic exposure and light runing for 15 minutes showed a higher increase of haematopoietic stem cells in<br>the peripheral blood after muscle damage.</p

Circulating Progenitor Cells and Vascular Dysfunction in Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease

<div><p>Background</p><p>In chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), decreased progenitor cells and impairment of systemic vascular function have been suggested to confer higher cardiovascular risk. The origin of these changes and their relationship with alterations in the pulmonary circulation are unknown.</p><p>Objectives</p><p>To investigate whether changes in the number of circulating hematopoietic progenitor cells are associated with pulmonary hypertension or changes in endothelial function.</p><p>Methods</p><p>62 COPD patients and 35 controls (18 non-smokers and 17 smokers) without cardiovascular risk factors other than cigarette smoking were studied. The number of circulating progenitors was measured as CD45⁺CD34⁺CD133⁺ labeled cells by flow cytometry. Endothelial function was assessed by flow-mediated dilation. Markers of inflammation and angiogenesis were also measured in all subjects.</p><p>Results</p><p>Compared with controls, the number of circulating progenitor cells was reduced in COPD patients. Progenitor cells did not differ between control smokers and non-smokers. COPD patients with pulmonary hypertension showed greater number of progenitor cells than those without pulmonary hypertension. Systemic endothelial function was worse in both control smokers and COPD patients. Interleukin-6, fibrinogen, high sensitivity C-reactive protein, vascular endothelial growth factor and tumor necrosis factor were increased in COPD. In COPD patients, the number of circulating progenitor cells was inversely related to the flow-mediated dilation of systemic arteries.</p><p>Conclusions</p><p>Pulmonary and systemic vascular impairment in COPD is associated with cigarette smoking but not with the reduced number of circulating hematopoietic progenitors. The latter appears to be a consequence of the disease itself not related to smoking habit.</p></div

Vascular reactivity of the brachial artery in the study population.

<p>Data are shown as median (interquartile range).</p><p>*P<0.05 compared with control nonsmokers.</p><p>Vascular reactivity of the brachial artery in the study population.</p

Relationship between the number of circulating CD45+CD34+CD133+ labelled cells and COPD severity.

<p>(A) Patients grouped according to the spirometric GOLD stage. (B) Patients grouped according to PaO₂ value above or below the median value (70 mmHg). (C) Patients grouped according to DLCO above or below the median value (60% predicted). (D) Patients grouped according to trans-tricuspid systolic pressure gradient suggestive of pulmonary hypertension (>31 mmHg), assessed by Doppler echocardiography. The box represents the interquartile range. The solid line indicates the median and the dashed line indicates the mean. The whiskers extend from the box to the 90th and 10th percentiles. One-way analysis of variance post hoc pairwise comparisons using the Kruskal-Wallis and the Dunn’s test.</p

Vascular and systemic inflammatory markers in the study population.

<p>Data are shown as median (interquartile range).</p><p>Definition of abbreviations: IL-6: Interleukin-6; VEGF: vascular endothelial growth factor; hsCRP: high sensitive C-reactive protein; BNP: Brain natriuretic peptide; TNF-α: tumour necrosis factor α.</p><p>*p<0.05 Chi-square.</p>†<p>P<0.05 compared with control nonsmokers.</p>‡<p>TNF-α was measured in 23 control subjects (13 nonsmokers and 10 smokers) and 30 COPD patients.</p><p>Vascular and systemic inflammatory markers in the study population.</p

Inverse correlation between progenitor cells and endothelial function.

<p>Inverse relationship between the number of circulating CD45+CD34+CD133+ progenitor cells and the endothelial function, assessed by flow-mediated dilation, of the brachial artery in patients with COPD (r = −0.27, P<0.05).</p

Number of circulating hematopoietic progenitors cells in nonsmokers, control smokers and COPD patients.

<p>(A) Number of CD45+CD34+ labelled cells, expressed as percent of lymphomonocytes. (B) Number of CD45+CD34+CD133+ labelled cells, expressed as percent of lymphomonocytes. The box represents the interquartile range. The solid line indicates the median and the dashed line indicates the mean. The whiskers extend from the box to the 90th and 10th percentiles. One-way analysis of variance and post hoc pairwise comparisons using the Dunn’s test.</p