Endothelial progenitor cells in peripheral blood may serve as a biological marker to predict severe acute pancreatitis

Figure 3 Contrast of the five markers. A: Comparison of the levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-α), white blood cell count (WBC), fibrinogen (FIB), and C-reactive protein (CRP) in the peripheral blood. The levels of TNF-α, WBC, FIB and CRP in the control, mild acute pancreatitis (MAP) and severe acute pancreatitis (SAP) groups increased in sequence; B, C, D: Flow cytometric analysis of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs). The mean levels of EPCs in the control, MAP and SAP groups were 0.55 ± 0.54, 1.63 ± 1.47 and 6.61 ± 4.28, respectively. There was a significant difference between the MAP and SAP groups (P < 0.01). However, the level of EPCs in the control and MAP groups was similar.