Objective To investigate the variance of endothelial progenitor cells(EPCs) in peripheral blood of patients with coronary heart disease, and its influence on endothelial function. Methods 53 patients with confirmed CHD by coronary angiography were recruited randomly as the CHD group, and 52 patients without-CHD were chosen as the control group. Humeral flow-mediated-dilation (FMD) was measured with high resolution ultrasonography for each patient. The levels of EPCs were detected in both groups by flow cytometry. The plasma levels of nitric oxide (NO) and high sensitivity C-reactive protein (hs-CRP) were also assessed in both groups. Results At the baseline, compared with those people without CHD, the endothelial function of patients with CHD was significantly lower, and the number of EPCs was significantly reduced, hs-CRP significantly increased, NO was significantly reduced(P<0.05); There was a significant positive relationship between endothelial function and the number of circulating EPCs, endothelial function improved with the increasing of the number of EPCs(r=0.52, P<0.01). Meanwhile, hs-CRP, one of the indices reflecting endothelial function, was negatively correlated with FMD and EPCs (r=-0.43, r=-0.50, P<0.05), NO was positively related with FMD and EPCs (r=0.54, r=0.45, P<0.05). Conclusion In patients with CHD, there is endothelial dysfunction, and the number of EPCs is significantly reduced. The endothelial function improves with the increasing of EPCs number.
