Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor as a Possible Indicator of Vascular Lesions

Abstract

To investigate the possible involvement of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) with vascular lesions, we studied the relationship between serum HGF concentrations and the grades of retinal arteriosclerosis, coronary atherosclerosis, and the proliferative changes in the retina of diabetic subjects. Individuals with more advanced grades of arteriosclerotic change showed higher serum HGF values (grade 0, 0.056 +/- 0.004ng/ml; grade 1, 0.132 +/- 0.026ng/ml; grade 2-3, 0.271 +/- 0.023ng/ml). The serum HGF concentration was increased (p < 0.05) in subjects with double- (0.323 +/- 0.037ng/ml) or triple-(0.345 +/- 0.027ng/ml) vessel coronary heart diseases, as compared to that in subjects with single-vessel coronary heart disease (0.191 +/- 0.027ng/ml). Serum HGF in diabetics without retinopathy was lower than that in nondiabetic subjects (0.041 +/- 0.003ng/ml vs 0.080 +/- 0.010ng/ml, p < 0.05), but did not differ from other diabetic subjects with background retinopathy (0.058 +/- 0.007ng/ml) or preproliferative retinopathy (0.048 +/- 0.010ng/ml). Serum HGF was increased in proliferative retinopathy without photocoagulation (0.138 +/- 0.035ng/ml, p < 0.01), but not with photocoagulation (0.040 +/- 0.008ng/ml). Increased serum HGF may be involved in the pathogenesis of arteriosclerosis/atherosclerosis or retinal neovascularization, and measurement of serum HGF may be a useful test to predict the presence of these vascular lesions.