Table 5.
Summary of the most frequent circulating biomarkers to monitor endothelial dysfunction in human studies
| Method | Characteristics | Advantages | Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|---|
| Serum markers | Blood drawn | ||
| NOS inhibitors | |||
| ADMA, SDMA | Competitive inhibitor of NOS | Some prospective clinical data | Not widely available |
| Inflammatory biomarkers | |||
| ET1 | Proinflammatory peptide | Some prospective clinical data | Not widely available |
|
hsCRP, IL-6, IL-8, IL-1β, TNF-α, CCL2, TWEAK, PTX3, CD40L |
Inflammatory biomarkers | Widely available; many data in CVD and ED | May be high in inflammation/infection |
| Cell adhesion molecules | |||
| sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, sE-selectin, sP-selectin | Adhesion molecules | Some prospective clinical data |
Not widely available Expensive |
| Coagulation pathway molecules | |||
| vWF, tPA, PAI-1, TM, fibrinogen, ADAMTS13 | Thromboembolic markers | vWF is widely available | Not a lot of data on ED |
| Glycocalyx damage | |||
| Endocan, syndecan 1; | Endothelial glycocalyx | Not widely available | |
| Oxidative stress | |||
| MPO | Activated neutrophils and macrophages increment MPO and increase ROS | Biomarker of oxidative stress | Not widely available |
| oxLDL | |||
| Cellular markers | |||
| cEPCs | Circulating endothelial progenitor cells promoting vasculogenesis | Good correlation with CAD and ED | Expensive, not widely available |
| CEC, EMP | Good correlation with CAD and ED | Not widely available | |
ADMA, asymmetric dimethylarginine; CAD, coronary artery disease; CCL2, CC-chemokine ligand 2; CEC, circulating endothelial cells; cEPCs, endothelial progenitor cells; CVD, cardiovascular disease; ED, endothelial dysfunction; EMP, endothelial microparticles; ET1, endothelin 1; hsCRP, high sensitive C-reactive protein; IL-1β, interleukin 1β, IL-6, interleukin-6, IL-8, interleukin-8, MPO, myeloperoxidase; NOS, nitric oxide synthase; oxLDL, oxidized low-density lipoprotein; PAI-1, plasminogen activator inhibitor 1; PTX3, pentraxin 3; SDMA, symmetric dimethylarginine; sE-selectin, soluble E-selectin; sICAM-1, soluble intercellular adhesion molecule; sP-selectin, soluble P-selectin; sVCAM-1, soluble vascular cellular adhesion molecule; TM, thrombomodulin; TNF-α, tumour necrosis factor α; TWEAK, TNF-like weak inducer of apoptosis; tPA, tissue plasminogen activator; vWF, von Willebrand factor