However, in a work aimed at defining cross-sectionally the time course of EPC alterations in type 2 DM and to identify potential mechanisms of progenitor cells reduction, Fadini and colleagues found that the lower the count of CD34+ cells the higher their apoptotic rate but also that there was no difference in the apoptotic rate between patients with and without DM and that the percentage of EPC apoptosis was too low to fully explain a decreased cell count [33]. Here, CD34 is linked to diabetes mellitus.