Migratory activity of circulating mononuclear cells is associated with cardiovascular mortality in type 2 diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia.

OBJECTIVE Prediction of clinical outcome in diabetic patients with critical limb ischemia (CLI) is unsatisfactory. This prospective study investigates if the abundance and migratory activity of a subpopulation of circulating mononuclear cells, namely, CD45(dim)CD34(pos)CXCR4(pos)KDR(pos) cells, predict major amputation and cardiovascular death in type 2 diabetic patients undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty for CLI. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS A consecutive series of 119 type 2 diabetic patients with CLI was enrolled. CD45(dim)CD34(pos)CXCR4(pos)KDR(pos) cells were assessed by flow cytometry upon isolation and also after spontaneous or stromal cell-derived factor 1α-directed migration in an in vitro assay. The association between basal cell counts and migratory activity and the risk of an event at 18-month follow-up was evaluated in a multivariable regression analysis. RESULTS Time-to-event analysis of amputation (n = 13) showed no association with the candidate predictors. Sixteen cardiovascular deaths occurred during 18 months of follow-up. Abundance of CD45(dim)CD34(pos)CXCR4(pos)KDR(pos) cells was not associated with cardiovascular mortality. Interestingly, in vitro migration of CD45(dim)CD34(pos)CXCR4(pos)KDR(pos) cells was higher in patients with cardiovascular death compared with event-free subjects (percentage of migrated cells median value and interquartile range, 0.03 [0.02-0.07] vs. 0.01 [0.01-0.03]; P = 0.0095). Multivariable regression model analysis showed that cell migration forecasts cardiovascular mortality independently of other validated predictors, such as age, diagnosed coronary artery disease, serum C-reactive protein, and estimated glomerular filtration rate. In this model, doubling of migrated cell counts increases the cardiovascular death hazard by 100% (P < 0.0001). CONCLUSIONS The new predictor could aid in the identification of high-risk patients with type 2 diabetes requiring special diagnostic and therapeutic care after revascularization.