TY - JOUR AU - De Biasi, Sara AU - Cerri, Stefania AU - Bianchini, Elena AU - Gibellini, Lara AU - Persiani, Elisa AU - Montanari, Gloria AU - Luppi, Fabrizio AU - Carbonelli, Cristiano Matteo AU - Zucchi, Luigi AU - Bocchino, Marialuisa AU - Zamparelli, Alessandro Sanduzzi AU - Vancheri, Carlo AU - Sgalla, Giacomo AU - Richeldi, Luca AU - Cossarizza, Andrea PY - 2015 DA - 2015/11/09 TI - Levels of circulating endothelial cells are low in idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and are further reduced by anti-fibrotic treatments JO - BMC Medicine SP - 277 VL - 13 IS - 1 AB - It has been suggested that circulating fibrocytes and endothelial cells actively participate in the intense remodelling of the pulmonary vasculature in patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF). Indeed, fibrotic areas exist that have fewer blood vessels, whereas adjacent non-fibrotic tissue is highly vascularized. The number of circulating endothelial cells (CEC) and endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) might reflect the balance between vascular injury and repair. Thus, fibrocytes as well as endothelial cells could potentially be used as biomarkers of disease progression and treatment outcome. SN - 1741-7015 UR - https://doi.org/10.1186/s12916-015-0515-0 DO - 10.1186/s12916-015-0515-0 ID - De Biasi2015 ER -