Measurement of hepatocyte growth factor in serum and bronchoalveolar lavage fluid in patients with pulmonary fibrosis.

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.