Characteristics of the study sample based on circulating CD34+CD133+ EPC quartiles
| Characteristics | Overall[0.002, 0.609](n = 1,566) | Blood CD34+CD133+ EPCs frequency, % | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1st Q[0.002, 0.020](n = 410) | 2nd Q[0.020, 0.032](n = 406) | 3rd Q[0.032, 0.049](n = 368) | 4th Q[0.049, 0.609](n = 382) | P value | ||
| Age, (mean ± SD), y | 65.93 ± 8.91 | 66.93 ± 9.08 | 66.15 ± 9.03 | 65.74 ± 8.60 | 64.78 ± 8.79 | 0.007a* |
| Sex, Female, n (%) | 726 (46.36%) | 168 (40.98%) | 173 (42.61%) | 184 (50.00%) | 201 (52.62%) | 0.002b* |
| Education, (mean ± SD), y | 14.10 ± 2.50 | 14.07 ± 2.55 | 14.12 ± 2.61 | 14.16 ± 2.49 | 14.07 ± 2.32 | 0.94a |
| APOE ε4 carrierc, n (%) | 342 (21.84%) | 85 (20.73%) | 87 (21.43%) | 94 (25.54%) | 76 (19.90%) | 0.25b |
| Peripheral vascular diseases | ||||||
| CHD, n (%) | 260 (16.60%) | 80 (19.51%) | 64 (15.76%) | 67 (18.21%) | 49 (12.83%) | 0.06b |
| HTN, n (%) | 755 (48.21%) | 194 (47.32%) | 200 (49.26%) | 160 (43.48%) | 201 (52.62%) | 0.09b |
| Cerebrovascular diseases | ||||||
| Stroke, n (%) | 107 (6.83%) | 27 (6.59%) | 31 (7.64%) | 22 (5.98%) | 27 (7.07%) | 0.82b |
| Silent brain infarcts, n (%) | 146 (9.32%) | 36 (8.78%) | 42 (10.34%) | 34 (9.23%) | 34 (8.90%) | 0.90b |
| CMB, n (%) | 79 (7.68%) | 21 (8.05%) | 20 (7.41%) | 19 (7.98%) | 19 (7.34%) | 0.99b |
| WMHI, cm3, (mean ± SD) | 4.45 ± 7.54 | 5.16 ± 9.03 | 4.58 ± 8.32 | 4.09 ± 5.45 | 3.92 ± 6.61 | 0.25a |
| Incidence | ||||||
| AD, n (%) | 59 (3.77%) | 24 (5.85%) | 16 (3.94%) | 11 (2.99%) | 8 (2.09%) | 0.04b* |
| Dementia, n (%) | 82 (5.16%) | 32 (7.66%) | 21 (5.56%) | 18 (4.41%) | 11 (2.86%) | 0.02b* |
The participants were divided based on CD34+CD133+ cell frequency (%) quartiles and compared. a ANOVA test P value; b Chi-squared test P value; c APOE ɛ4 = ɛ34 + ɛ44; * P value significant < 0.05; Q: quartile; y: years