Hepatocyte growth factor is increased in the aqueous humor of glaucomatouseyes

Purpose: To assess the concentrations of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in the aqueous humor of eyes with glaucoma compared with control eyes with cat aract only, Methods: Concentrations of HGF were measured in aqueous humor aspirates tak en during anterior segment surgery from 84 patients, of whom 72 had glaucom a (38 cases of primary open-angle glaucoma, 17 angle-closure glaucoma, and 17 exfoliative glaucoma) and 12 had cataract only, using a sandwich enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay kit. Results: Hepatocyte growth factor was detected in all samples, The concentr ation in eyes with cataract only was 563.3 +/- 178.8 pg/mL (mean +/- standa rd deviation), which was significantly lower than that in eyes with glaucom a (967.1 +/- 514.7 pg/mL, P < 0.01). Eyes with exfoliative glaucoma had sig nificantly higher HGF concentrations (1,425.5 +/- 586.7 pg/mL) than did eye s with primary open-angle glaucoma (855.0 +/- 341.5 pg/mL) and angle-closur e glaucoma (759.4 +/- 511.4 pg/mL) (P < 0.01), There was no effect of age, sex, or history of medical, laser, or surgical treatment on the aqueous hum or HGF concentration (P > 0.05). Aqueous humor and plasma HGF concentration s were measured and compared in 28 patients. The aqueous humor HGF concentr ation (908 +/- 586.2 pg/mL) was significantly higher (P < 0.01) than the pl asma concentration (521.3 +/- 183.1 pg/mL). No significant correlation coul d be found between aqueous humor and plasma HGF concentrations. Conclusions: The relatively high concentration of HGF in human aqueous humo r suggests that HGF may play an important role in ocular physiology and dis ease. The higher concentration in patients with glaucoma may indicate a res ponse to injury.