HEPATOCYTE GROWTH-FACTOR (HGF) IN PATIENTS WITH PNEUMONIA - A COMPARISON BETWEEN SURVIVORS AND NONSURVIVORS

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a multifunctional growth factor. Aft er lung injury HGF is secreted in the lung and promotes reconstruction of the damaged organ. We measured, retrospectively, the serum HGF con centrations collected on admission in 55 patients with bacterial pneum onia, using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). The patients were divided into 3 groups: Group 1 was survivors with normal liver f unction (ir = 14), Group 2 was survivors with abnormal Liver function (n = 31) and Group 3 was non-survivors (n = 10). Median concentrations of HGF were elevated in Groups 1 and 2; and no statistically signific ant difference between these 2 groups was found. Group 3 had a median HGF concentration within the reference range, significantly lower than both Group 1 and Group 2. In addition LDH was significantly higher in pen-survivors as compared with survivors. The combination of LDH and HGF concentrations discriminated between survivors and non-survivors ( sensitivity 0.90 and specificity 0.96). The results support the hypoth esis that increased levels of HGF might be a natural part of the heali ng process of lung injury, irrespective of liver involvement, and that patients without increased HGF levels, especially those with concomit ant liver function impairment, may have a poor prognosis.