Background: Haematopoietic stem cells undergo mobilization from bone marrow to blood in response to physiological stimuli such as ischemia and tissue injury. The aim of study was to determine the kinetics of circulating CD34+and CD133+CD34+progenitor cells in response to 75 g glucose load in subjects with normal and impaired glucose metabolism.Methods: Asian Indian male subjects (n = 50) with no prior history of glucose imbalance were subjected to 2 hour oral glucose tolerance test (OGTT). 24 subjects had normal glucose tolerance (NGT), 17 subjects had impaired glucose tolerance (IGT) and 9 had impaired fasting glucose (IFG). The IGT and IFG subjects were grouped together as pre-diabetes group (n = 26). Progenitor cell counts in peripheral circulation at fasting and 2 hour post glucose challenge were measured using direct two-color flow cytometry.Results: The pre-diabetes group was more insulin resistant (p < 0.0001) as measured by homeostasis assessment model (HOMA-IR) compared to NGT group. A 2.5-fold increase in CD34+cells (p = 0.003) and CD133+CD34+(p = 0.019) cells was seen 2 hours post glucose challenge in the NGT group. This increase for both the cell types was attenuated in subjects with IGT. CD34+cell counts in response to glucose challenge inversely correlated with neutrophil counts (ρ = -0.330, p = 0.019), while post load counts of CD133+CD34+cells inversely correlated with serum creatinine (ρ = -0.312, p = 0.023).Conclusion: There is a 2.5-fold increase in the circulating levels of haematopoietic stem cells in response to glucose challenge in healthy Asian Indian male subjects which is attenuated in subjects with pre-diabetes. © 2011 Nathan et al; licensee BioMed Central Ltd.