Reduced Endothelial Progenitor Cells: A Possible Biomarker for Idiopathic Fetal Growth Restriction in Human Pregnancies

BACKGROUND: Circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) may be necessary throughout pregnancy by ensuring proper placentation and embryonic growth. The lack of standardized EPC quantification techniques has prevented conclusive proof of an increase in EPC during pregnancy. OBJECTIVES: The purpose of this study was to determine whether EPC levels change for healthy and idiopathic fetal growth restriction (FGR) pregnancies. MATERIALS AND METHODS: The study population consisted of 48 healthy pregnant females with no previous history of IUGR (10 in the first trimester, 15 in the second, and 23 in the third), 48 women with pregnancy complicated by idiopathic FGR, and 15 non-pregnant women. By using flow cytometry, EPCs in maternal blood were recognized as CD45dim/CD34/KDR cells. ELISA was used to measure plasmatic cytokines. RESULTS: We ascertained a progressive rise in EPCs in healthy pregnancies that was apparent in the first but more pronounced in the third trimester. At comparable gestational ages, FGR-complicated pregnancies had impaired EPC growth. Placental growth factor and stromal-derived factor-1 levels in the blood were significantly lower in FGR than in healthy pregnancies, which may have contributed to the degradation of the EPCs. CONCLUSION: The count in EPCs might hold considerable promise toward developing a peculiar authentication marker for observing pregnancies, and could be the focus of cutting-edge tactics for the prognosis and treatment of FGR pregnancies.