A high-cholesterol diet is associated with thrombocytosis, lymphocytosis, and increased circulating progenitor cells. (A) Hypercholesterolemia was accompanied by increased platelet counts (thrombocytosis; ×103/μL). (B) Besides thrombocytosis, leukocytosis also was observed in mice fed a high-cholesterol diet. The leukocytosis in mice fed a high-cholesterol diet was mainly caused by the significant increase in circulating lymphocytes and neutrophils (×103/μL). (C) Flow cytometry analysis with Gr-1 (neutrophils), Sca1/c-Kit (progenitors), and CD19 (B lymphocytes) cell-surface markers confirms that the leukocytosis is mainly attributable to a massive increase in circulating lymphocytes (lymphocytosis) and neutrophils (neutrophilia; ×103/μL). In addition, hypercholesterolemia was also accompanied by an increase in the number of circulating progenitor cells (×104/mL;*P < .05). (D) Isolated Lin−Sca1+c-Kit+ cells from the PB of mice fed a normal diet and a high-cholesterol diet form CFUs in methylcellulose cultures, demonstrating their progenitor potential (*P < .05). These experiments were performed 3 times with groups of 6 mice/experimental condition with consistent results.
