Oppositely, Zerbini et al. [149] found that ECFCs (CD45dim CD34+ KDR+) did not vary significantly between T1DM patients with NPDR and HC, although the number of CD45+CD14+ CFU-Hill cells increased in NPDR compared to HC, when measured as the number of colonies formed in vitro by 106 PBMCs. The gene discussed is CD34; the disease is type 1 diabetes mellitus.