Association of serum hepatocyte growth factor with pericardial fat volume in patients with coronary artery disease.

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), as a metabolic regulator, was shown to be secreted by adipose tissue and associated with metabolic syndrome (MS) and coronary artery disease (CAD). Pericardial fat, as a visceral fat, was found to be a significant predictor of CAD. We investigated the relationship between serum HGF levels and pericardial fat volume (PFV) in individuals aged between 40-65 years without liver or renal diseases, and also without medicine consumption. Serum HGF levels were found to be significantly higher in participants with CAD than those without CAD (P<0.001). In addition, the serum HGF levels had a significant positive correlation with the PFV in all the participants (r=0.485, P<0.001). Multivariate linear regression demonstrated that the serum HGF levels were significantly associated with PFV (β value=0.454, P<0.001) after adjustment for the metabolic parameters. Further regression assessment found that the serum HGF levels were significantly associated with PFV in participants with CAD (β value=0.586, P<0.001). The serum HGF levels were significant and independent predictors for determining the presence of CAD (OR=1.002, 95% CI: 1.000-1.004, P=0.011). This study therefore demonstrated that the serum HGF levels positively correlated with PFV in participants with CAD and can therefore be a significant predictor for the presence of CAD.