A: Box-and-whisker plot showing the levels of CD34⁺ and CD34⁺KDR⁺ cells and their ratio in diabetic patients divided into four groups according to the presence of DR and/or PAD. The central box represents the values from the lower to upper quartile (25–75 percentile), and the middle line represents the median. A line extends from the minimum to the maximum value, excluding values extending 1.5 times or more the interquartile range from the lower and upper quartile. Horizontal lines indicate which groups were compared. B: A cellular cluster of spindle-shaped cells, representing proliferation of cultured EPCs, and cells double stained with DiI-AcLDL (red) and fluorescein isothiocyanate–conjugated–Ulex lectin (green), indicating endothelial differentiation of progenitor cells from peripheral blood. Nuclei are stained in blue. C: Enumeration of cell clusters at different time points revealed that the clonogenic expansion capacity of cultured EPCs during the 15-day culture period is significantly superior in DR patients compared with PAD patients. *P < 0.05.