Circulating Hematopoietic Stem/Progenitor Cells are Associated with Coronary Stenoses in Patients with Coronary Heart Disease

Inflammatory cells in atherosclerotic plaque exclusively originate from hematopoietic stem/progenitor cells (HSPCs). In this study, we investigated whether circulating HSPCs frequency related to coronary stenosis in patients with coronary heart disease (CHD). Coronary angiography was performed in 468 participants who were recruited at Cardiology Centre in LuHe Hospital from March 2016 to May 2017. Among these subjects, 344 underwent echocardiography. Mononuclear cells isolated from peripheral blood were stained with an antibody cocktail containing anti-human CD34, anti-human lineage, anti-human CD38, and anti-human CD45RA. Lineage(−)CD38(−)CD45RA(dim)CD34(+)HSPCs were quantified by flow cytometry. CHD was defined as coronary stenosis ≥50% and the extent of CHD was further categorised by coronary stenosis ≥70%. A p < 0.0031 was regarded statistically significant by the Bonferroni correction. Circulating HSPCs frequency was 1.8-fold higher in CHD patients than non-CHD participants (p = 0.047). Multivariate-adjusted logistic analysis demonstrated that HSPCs was the only marker that was associated with the odds ratio of having mild vs. severe coronary stenosis (2.08 (95% CI, 1.35–3.21), p = 0.0009). Left ventricular ejection fraction was inversely correlated with HSPCs frequency and CRP in CHD patients (p < 0.05 for both). In conclusion, HSPCs frequency in circulation is intimately related to coronary stenoses in CHD patients.