Endothelial Microparticles (EMP) as Vascular Disease Markers

Endothelial cells (ECs) have long been implicated in the pathogenesis and pathophysiology of a myriad of vascular, thrombotic, and inflammatory disorders [1-3]. The prevalence of endothelial perturbation in vascular disease has underscored the need for noninvasive sensitive and specific markers to monitor endothelial status [4]. The popularity of endothelial microparticles (EMPs) as markers of perturbed has increased because of its promising clinical applications in the area of noninvasive EC monitoring [5]. This trend can be attributed to a significant increase in the information available about EMPs' role in health and disease and their presence in different disorders [5]. Concomitant with this wealth of information, new challenges have risen to the fore. Perhaps the most crucial, and most decidedly relevant to the field of clinical laboratory testing, has been the issue of methodology [5, 6]. Indeed, to this day, there is no consensus about which is the best protocol to determine EMP, and a number of different flow cytometric and immunologic methods with several variations have been adopted [6]. This review introduces the methodologies currently employed in the area of clinical EMP research. Moreover, issues that may have an effect on the clinical application of EMP assays are also discussed.