Circulating progenitor cells in hypertensive patients with different degrees of cardiovascular involvement.

We investigated whether different degrees of hypertension-related cardiovascular involvement are associated with changes in circulating proangiogenic hematopoietic cell (PHC) numbers and/or phenotypes and/or in the PHC redox system in hypertensive individuals with isolated arterial stiffening (AS) hypertensives or with both carotid intima-media thickening and left ventricular hypertrophy (LVH) hypertensives. We also evaluated microRNA (miRs) 221 and 222 (miRs221/222) expression in CD34+ cells, the relationship between these miRs and cell number and reactive oxygen species (ROS) levels, and the expression of manganese superoxide dismutase (MnSOD), catalase (CAT) glutathione peroxidase type-1 (GPx-1) and gp91phox-containing nicotinamide-adenine-dinucleotide-phosphate-oxidase (NOX2). Proangiogenic hematopoietic cells (PHCs) from hypertensive patients and controls were isolated by flow cytometry. PHCs were higher in hypertensives than in controls but were lower in LVH than in AS hypertensives. In CD34+ cells from AS hypertensives, NOX2, MnSOD, CAT and GPx-1 were overexpressed; ROS, miRs and NOX2 were also increased and were associated with cell number. In LVH, we found an imbalance in the cell redox system; MnSOD showed the highest values, whereas CAT and GPx-1 were lower than in AS hypertensives. Intracellular ROS, miRs and NOX2 were higher and inversely associated with cell number. In AS hypertensives, the redox balance may sustain the increase in PHCs; by contrast, in hypertensives with more advanced lesions, redox imbalance may result in increased oxidative stress and cell reduction.