title: Hepatocyte growth factor levels in Legionella pneumonia: a retrospective study.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is known to be involved in the resolution of pulmonary inflammation and repair of acute lung injury. Legionella pneumonia is sometimes complicated by acute lung injury. Our study aimed to determine the role of serum HGF levels in Legionella pneumonia.
  
  
  METHODS
  Sera from patients with Legionella pneumonia (42 cases), other bacterial pneumonia (33 cases), pulmonary tuberculosis (19 cases), and normal controls (29 cases) were collected. The serum HGF levels for each serum sample were determined by sandwich ELISA. Clinical and laboratory data were collected by reviewing the medical charts.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Serum HGF levels were higher in patients with Legionella pneumonia than in those with other bacterial pneumonia, pulmonary tuberculosis, and controls. The HGF levels were compared with white blood cell counts, C-reactive protein, Alanine amino-transferase, and lactate dehydrogenase (LDH). The HGF levels were correlated to serum LDH levels. Moreover, serum HGF levels were significantly higher in non-survivors than in survivors.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  HGF levels increased in severer pneumonia caused by Legionella, suggesting that HGF might play a significant role in the Legionella pneumonia.
authors.affiliation: Department of Infectious, Respiratory, and Digestive Medicine, Control and Prevention of Infectious Diseases, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus, Okinawa 903-0215, Japan. fhiga@med.u-ryukyu.ac.jp
authors.forename: Futoshi
authors.initials: F
authors.lastname: Higa
authors.forename: Morikazu
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Akamine
authors.forename: Makoto
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Furugen
authors.forename: Kenji
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Hibiya
authors.forename: Michio
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Koide
authors.forename: Maki
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tamayose
authors.forename: Yuichiro
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Tamaki
authors.forename: Syusaku
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Haranaga
authors.forename: Noriko
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Arakaki
authors.forename: Satomi
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Yara
authors.forename: Masao
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Tateyama
authors.forename: Jiro
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Fujita
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D004797:Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay; D005260:Female; D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor / Q000097:blood*; D006801:Humans; D007877:Legionnaires' Disease / Q000097:blood*; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018410:Pneumonia, Bacterial / Q000097:blood*; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D014397:Tuberculosis, Pulmonary / Q000097:blood
chemical_list: D017228:Hepatocyte Growth Factor