title: Hepatocyte growth factor: from diagnosis to clinical applications.
abstract: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), initially identified and molecularly cloned as a potent mitogen of primary cultured hepatocytes, has multiple activities in a variety of tissues during the course of development and also in various disease states. HGF plays key roles in the attenuation of disease progression as an intrinsic repair factor. It is also evident that HGF levels are regulated under different conditions, for example, during the course of pregnancy, aging, and disease. This review focuses on the levels of HGF in normal and pathophysiological situations and examines the relationships between HGF levels and disease, disease stage, and disease prognosis. The clinical potential of HGF as a treatment for subjects with various diseases is also given attention.
authors.affiliation: Division of Molecular Regenerative Medicine, Course of Advanced Medicine, Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine, B-7 Osaka 565-0871, Japan.
authors.forename: Hiroshi
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Funakoshi
authors.forename: Toshikazu
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Nakamura
mesh_terms: D000818:Animals; D004194:Disease; D018450:Disease Progression; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood* / Q000502:physiology / Q000627:therapeutic use*; D006801:Humans; D011379:Prognosis
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor