Abstract:

Abstract:Objective
 To investigate the changes in the number of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) in whole blood,heart,brain and kidney tissues in rats at different growth stages,and to illustrate the relationship between the changes of the number of EPCs in rats and the diffrent growth stages.Methods The rats were divided into 0.5 months,2 months,8 months and 18 months groups,10 rats in each group.The blood was collected by abdominal aorta with EDTA-K2 anti-freezing when the rats were anesthetized by 2% pentobarbital sodium and centrifuged for collection of whole blood.Meanwhile,  the heart,brain and kidney tissues of the rats in each group were prepared as well as single cell suspension,and the EPCs were labeled with CD34 (FITC labeled) and CD133 (markers PE) double staining and  the changes in EPCs numbers in blood and suspension of single cell were detected by flow cytometry;the same places of heart,brain and kidney tissue microarray,and the tissue specific staining positive expressions of CD34 in EPCs were detected by immunohistochemistry.Results The number of EPCs detected by flow cytometry and immunohistochemical staining in blood and heart,brain,kidney tissues of the rats in 2 months and 8 months groups were significantly higher than those in  0.5 month and 18 months groups (P<0.05),but there were no significant differences between 2 months and 8 months groups(P>0.05).As well as 0.5 month and 18 months groups. Conclusion With the growth and development of rats,the number of EPCs is changed regularly in whole blood,heart,brain,kidney and other organs,and it may be closely related to the growth and development stages of rats.

Key words: endothelial progenitor cells;growth stages, rats,Wistar