AimTo investigate the functional effects of telmisartant on endothelial progenitor cells (EPC) functional activities.MethodsPeripheral blood derived mononuclear cells containing EPC were isolated from healthy volunteers and then cultured on fibronectin-coated dishes with endothelial cell growth medium-2 (EBM-2).The cells were cultured alone (control groups),with telmisartan (0.1 μmol/L, 1 μmol/L, 10 μmol/L), or telmisartan plus peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ) inhibitor(GW9662) or telmisartan plus PI3K-inhibitor(Ly294002).The proliferation, migration and adhesion activities of EPC were determined with MTT assay, transwell assay and adhesive assay, respectively.The expression of Akt and p-Akt were measured by Western Blot analysis.ResultsIn the presence of telmisartan, numbers of colonies increased in a dose-dependent manner.DiI-ac-LDL uptake and lectin staining revealed that these proliferation colonies were EPC.The proliferative, migratory and adhesive activities of EPC were significantly enhanced after treated with telmisartan in a dose-dependent manner.The inhibition of PPARγ and Akt activa tion attenuated the effect of telmisartan on EPC functions.Meanwhile, the expression of pAkt were significantly upregulated by the treatment of telmisartan.ConclusionsTelmisartan could improve the proliferative, migratory and adhesive activities of EPC via the PI3K/Akt pathway.