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High levels of endothelial progenitor cells can be associated with thrombosis in patients with Behçet's disease.

OBJECTIVES
Behçet's disease (BD) is a systemic disorder characterised by vasculitis. Endothelial progenitor cells are derived from the bone marrow and contribute to new vessel formation. The aim of this study was to investigate the level of endothelial progenitor cells in BD and BD-associated conditions.


METHODS
A total of 74 subjects were included in this study, of whom 44 and 30 subjects were patients with BD or healthy subjects, respectively. Endothelial progenitor cells were defined and measured by flow cytometry according to the expression of CD146, CD31 and CD34. We separated BD patients according to the active disease, pathergy test results, thrombosis and gender. MedCalc 12.5 software programme was used for statistical analyses.


RESULTS
The level of endothelial progenitor cells was comparable in patients with BD and healthy subjects (p=0.849). It was also comparable in patients with active or inactive BD (p=0.320). The level of endothelial progenitor cells was higher in patients with thrombosis (p=0.04). There was no statistical significant difference between pathergy positive and negative patients (p=0.969). The level of endothelial progenitor cells was not correlated with age, C-reactive protein, erythrocyte sedimentation rate, white blood cells and disease duration (p>0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
The level of endothelial progenitor cells was significantly higher in BD patients with thrombosis. On the other hand, they were not associated with disease activity, pathergy test and other conditions. EPCs may be a useful marker for thrombosis in patients with BD. In our opinion, this is the most expected result in this study.