“…When activated or during apoptosis, these cells can release plasma membrane vesicles called microparticles (MPs) (Martínez et al, 2005). Several studies have shown that in inflammatory diseases, such as diabetes (Sabatier et al, 2002), acute coronary syndromes (Mallat et al, 2000;Bernal-Mizrachi et al, 2003), preeclampsia (Meziani et al, 2006), or sepsis (Soriano et al, 2005), the enhanced level of circulating MPs is correlated with vascular dysfunction, suggesting that MPs might play a role in these pathologies. These data are reinforced by the in vitro studies showing that MPs generated from leukocytes induce cytokine release by endothelial cells Altieri, 1998, 1999).…”