Effects of antihypertensive treatment on circulating endothelial progenitor cells in patients with mild essential hypertension.

It has been reported that the number of circulating endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) refl ects the endogenous vascular
repair ability, with the EPCs pool declining in the presence of cardiovascular risk factors. However, their relationship with
hypertension and the effects of anti-hypertensive treatment remain unclear. We randomized 29 patients with mild essential
hypertension to receive barnidipine up to 20 mg or hydrochlorothiazide (HCT) up to 25 mg. Circulating EPCs were
isolated from peripheral blood at baseline and after 3 and 6 months of treatment. Mononuclear cells were cultured with
endothelial basal medium supplemented with EGM SingleQuots. EPCs were identifi ed by positive double staining for
both FITC-labeled Ulex europaeus agglutinin I and Dil-labeled acethylated low-density lipoprotein. After 3 and 6 months
of treatment, systolic and diastolic blood pressure (BP) were signifi cantly reduced. No difference was observed between
drugs. An increase in the number of EPCs was observed after 3 and 6 months of anti-hypertensive treatment ( p " 0.05).
Barnidipine signifi cantly increased EPCs after 3 and 6 months of treatment, whereas no effect was observed with HCT.
No statistically signifi cant correlation was observed between EPCs and clinical BP values. Our data suggest that antihypertensive
treatment may increase the number of EPCs. However, we observed a different effect of barnidipine and HCT
on EPCs, suggesting that, beyond its BP lowering effect, barnidipine may elicit additional benefi cial properties, related
to a healthier vasculature.