Progenitor cells indicative of lower cardiac risk?

A study suggests cell levels may signal the chance of developing heart disease and lead to new treatments, but experts say more research is needed.

By Victoria Stagg Elliott, AMNews staff. March 10, 2003.

The blood levels of endothelial progenitor cells -- a type of adult stem cell that repairs damage to the walls of blood vessels -- may indicate a person's risk of developing heart disease or stroke, according to a study published in The New England Journal of Medicine Feb. 13.

Scientists from the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute studied 45 healthy men and found that their levels of these cells correlated with Framingham Heart Study risk scores for developing cardiovascular disease.

To date, most research regarding heart disease risk has relied on factors such as high blood pressure or excess body weight -- both of which are evidence that damage is under way. These researchers took a different tack by searching for factors that could be counteracting rather than causing damage to the cardiovascular system.

"If this hypothesis that we're trying to advance is correct, then it does not actually look at the injury side of the equation," said Toren Finkel, MD, PhD, co-author of the study and chief of NHLBI's cardiovascular branch. "It looks more at the repair side of the equation. Those two sides might be linked together, but they may not be."

Researchers suggested that this finding could eventually lead to new screening modalities and possibly new treatments.

"It's possible that, some day, doctors may be able to test a person's risk of cardiovascular disease by taking a blood sample and measuring these cells," said Dr. Finkel. "If the level is too low, an injection of endothelial cells might boost the body's ability to repair itself and prevent more blood vessel damage."