摘要Background Evidence showed that both myocardium and blood vessels were damaged in dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM).However,the changes in arterial compliance,serum cytokines and circulating endothelial progenitor ceIls(EPC),and their correlations remain unknown.Methods Sixty-five DCM patients and 49 healthy volunteers were studied.Both large artery compliance(C1)and small artery compliance(C2)were measured with the CVProfilor DO-2020.Quantitative enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISAs)were used to measure the levels of vascular endothelial growth factor-A(VEGF-A)and VEGF receptor 2(VEGF-R2).Circulating EPC was assessed by EPC colony-forming assays and flow cytometry(CD133+/CD34+cells).Phagocytized Dil-acLDL and binded FITC-UEA-I were used to analyze endothelial lineage marker expression by immunofluorescence.Results Although C2 was markedly lower in DCM patients than in control group((3.8±1.8)ml/mmHg×100 vs(5.0±2.2)ml/mmHg×100,P＜0.0001),there was no statistically significant difference in C1 between the two groups(P＞0.05).Levels of VEGF-A,the numbers of colony-forming units(CFU)and the fractions of EPC were obviously highein DCM patients than in control group((127.61±39.5)pg/ml vs(58.8±42.9)pg/ml,P＜0.0001;(2.5±1.5)%vs(0.5±0.3)%,P＜0.05;23.5±12.8 vs 10.8±7.4,P＜0.01,respectively)and however,there was no significant difference in VEGF-R2 between two groups(P＞0.05).LgVEGF-A was positively correlated with the number of EPC-CFU(r=0.435;P＜0.05)and inversely correlated with C2(r=0.543;P＜0.001)in DCM patients.Conclusions The reduction of C2,a sensitive marker reflecting endothelial dysfunction,was observed in DCM patients and closely related to the increase in serum VEGF-A.