Fig. 1

EPCs in diabetes mellitus and vascular complications. In the presence of DM and hyperglycaemia, there is an increment of inflammation and ROS and AGEs generation, which are associated with the deregulation of important biochemical pathways (NADPH/ROS/JNK, VEGF/PI3K/Akt/eNOS, Wnt/β-catenin…) affecting EPCs performance: eEPCs mobilization is negatively affected by these conditions, leading to a reduction in eEPCs number in BM and PB. Meanwhile, ECFCs functionality (wound healing and tube formation abilities, angiogenesis, migration, proliferation…) is compromised due to the hostile diabetic environment. All these abnormalities promote the development of DVCs (PAD, DR, DNeu, DN…). Further, DVCs aggravate the pathological environment, damaging EPCs behaviour