Type II diabetes impairs the function of EPCs, increases the risk of severe consequences from vascular occlusive events.

This study hypothesizes that endothelial progenitor cell (EPC) dysfunction may be important in diabetic complications. Their testing of diabetic patients and age-matched control subjects shows that the proliferation of diabetic EPCs relative to control subjects was decreased by 48%, and inversely correlated with patient levels of hemoglobin A1C. They conclude that their findings suggest type II diabetes may alter EPC biology, and may identify a population at high risk for morbidity and mortality after vascular occlusive events.