title: Measurement of hepatocyte growth factor in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with pulmonary fibrosis.
abstract: The present study evaluated the clinical significance of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in patients with pulmonary fibrosis. Twenty-one patients with a diagnosis of pulmonary fibrosis [14 with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF) and seven with pulmonary fibrosis associated with a collagen vascular disorder (PF-CVD]) and 21 normal subjects as control were studied. HGF levels in sera of patients with pulmonary fibrosis (0.34 +/- 0.02 ng ml-1) were elevated significantly as compared with normal subjects (0.21 +/- 0.01 ng ml-1) (P < 0.0001). HGF/albumin levels in broncho-alveolar lavage fluid (BALF) of patients with pulmonary fibrosis (72 +/- 17 ng g-1 albumin) were also significantly elevated as compared with normal subjects (under the detection limit) (P < 0.01). HGF levels in sera correlated significantly with elastase levels in sera and C-reactive protein, and correlated negatively with PaO2. HGF levels in sera were significantly higher in smokers with pulmonary fibrosis (0.42 +/- 0.03 ng ml-1) as compared with non-smokers with pulmonary fibrosis (0.29 +/- 0.03 ng ml-1) (P < 0.005). HGF/albumin levels in BALF correlated significantly with elastase/albumin levels in BALF, lactate dehydrogenase/albumin in BALF, Immunoglobulin A/albumin in BALF, total cell count/albumin in BALF, total number of alveolar macrophage/albumin in BALF, total number of neutrophil/albumin in BALF, CEA/albumin in BALF, CA19-9/albumin in BALF, and SCC/albumin in BALF. These results suggest that following lung injury, HGF may be a mediator involved in the repair which leads to pulmonary fibrosis.
authors.affiliation: First Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical University, Japan.
authors.forename: H
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Yamanouchi
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujita
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Yoshinouchi
authors.forename: S
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Hojo
authors.forename: T
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Kamei
authors.forename: I
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Yamadori
authors.forename: Y
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Ohtsuki
authors.forename: N
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Ueda
authors.forename: J
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Takahara
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000418:Albumins / Q000032:analysis; D015415:Biomarkers / Q000032:analysis / Q000097:blood; D001992:Bronchoalveolar Lavage Fluid / Q000737:chemistry*; D002097:C-Reactive Protein / Q000032:analysis; D003095:Collagen Diseases / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000032:analysis* / Q000097:blood; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase / Q000097:blood; D011658:Pulmonary Fibrosis / Q000097:blood / Q000378:metabolism*; D012907:Smoking / Q000378:metabolism; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric
chemical_list: D000418:Albumins; D015415:Biomarkers; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor; D002097:C-Reactive Protein; D010196:Pancreatic Elastase