PCSK9 and type 2 diabetes mellitus: Multiple regression analyses on T2DM patients showed that PCSK9 circulating levels predicted both the number of CD45neg/CD34bright (β = − 0.438; t-value, − 3.199; p = 0.003) (adjusted R2 = 0.173, p = 0.003), and CD45neg/CD34bright/CD146neg (β = − 0.458; t-value, − 3.376; p = 0.002) (adjusted R2 = 0.191, p = 0.002) independently of age, gender, BMI and statin treatment.