Circulating fibrocyte levels correlate with left ventricular mass in middle-aged healthy adults without hypertension.

BACKGROUND

Fibrocytes, circulating bone-marrow derived cells that differentiate into fibroblasts and myofibroblasts, are a major source of hypertensive arterial fibrosis and correlate with left ventricular (LV) mass in subjects with hypertension. We tested whether circulating fibrocytes levels correlate with LV mass in middle-aged adults without hypertension.

METHODS

We measured peripheral blood fibrocyte levels and their activated phenotypes in 13 middle-aged, non-hypertensive adults and performed cardiac magnetic resonance imaging to assess LV mass.

RESULTS

There was a strong correlation between total fibrocyte levels (CD45 + Col1+) and LV mass index ( = 0.71,  = 0.006), as well as fibrocyte subsets expressing the chemokine markers CCR2 ( = 0.60,  = 0.032), CCR5 ( = 0.62,  = 0.029), CCR7 ( = 0.60,  = 0.034), co-expression of CXCR4 and CCR2 ( = 0.62, p = 0.029), α-SMA+ ( = 0.57,  = 0.044), CD133 ( = 0.59,  = 0.036), and pSTAT6 ( = 0.64,  = 0.032).

CONCLUSIONS

Circulating fibrocytes are associated with LV mass index in middle-aged, non-hypertensive adults and may be a harbinger for the development of hypertension.