Periodontitis links with EPC counts in patients with T2 diabetes

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: Periodontitis is closely associated with type 2 diabetes mellitus (DM) and endothelial dysfunction. This study investigated the relationship of periodontitis with circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in type 2 DM patients. METHODS: 26 subjects with chronic periodontitis and DM who had no history of coronary artery disease were recruited. All participants underwent full-month periodontal examination and venous blood was collected for flow cytometry and EPC culture. Four subpopulations of EPCs, including CD34+, CD133+, CD34+/kinase insert domain-containing receptor (KDR)+ and CD133+/KDR + EPCs, were measured by flow cytometry; while monocytic EPCs were enumerated by immunohistochemistry in cultured peripheral blood mononuclear cells. RESULTS: A significant association between sites% with probing depth (PD) ≥5 mm and flow cytometry counts of EPCs was found (CD34+ cells: r=0.493, p=0.011; CD34+/KDR+ cells: r=0.390, p=0.049). Whereas, no significant correlation existed between PD and cultured monocytic EPCs. Further multivariate analysis indicated that only sites% with PD≥5 mm correlated with CD34+ cells (r=0.453, p=0.030) after adjusting for age, gender, BMI, smoking, hypertension, hypercholesterolemia, h1bAc and hs-CRP. CONCLUSIONS: This preliminary study suggests that chronic periodontitis could be associated with circulating CD34+ EPC counts in type 2 diabetes patients. Further study on functional activities of EPCs is warranted.