The discovery of endothelial progenitor cells (EPCs) and demonstration of their participation in postnatal new blood vessel formation accelerated their application for therapeutic angiogenesis in cardiovascular diseases and vascularity-dependent disorders treatment. First experiments done on EPCs suggested that usage of these cells in clinic may improve the quality of life of the patients not curable with standard revascularizing surgery. However, the clinical trials of cell therapy with EPCs were not as fruitful as expected.

Increasing number of type 2 diabetes patients (T2DM) represents a major health problem both for physicians and scientists. Despite characterization of endothelial dysfunction and application of new therapeutic strategies, numerous vascular complications lead to earlier death of diabetic patients. It was demonstrated that increased cardiovascular risk in diabetes positively correlates with impaired functions of endothelial progenitor cells (EPC). Moreover, hyperglycemia also attenuates their activities in vitro and in vivo.