Conclusion
Differences between healthy subjects and patients with ectopic calcification indicate that this approach may be useful to better evaluate endothelial dysfunction in a clinical context.
Methods
Circulating mature cells (CMC, CD45-, CD34+, CD133-) and circulating progenitor cells (CPC, CD45dim, CD34bright, CD133+) were investigated by polychromatic high-speed flow cytometry to detect the expression of endothelial (CD309+) or osteogenic (BAP+) differentiation markers in healthy subjects and in patients affected by peripheral vascular manifestations associated with ectopic calcification.
Results
This study shows that: 1) polychromatic flow cytometry represents a valuable tool to accurately identify rare cells; 2) the balance of CD309+ on CMC/CD309+ on CPC is altered in patients affected by peripheral vascular manifestations, suggesting the occurrence of vascular damage and low repair potential; 3) the increase of circulating cells exhibiting a shift towards an osteoblast-like phenotype (BAP+) is observed in the presence of ectopic calcification.