Human hepatocyte growth factor levels in patients undergoing thoracic operations

Human hepatocyte growth factor (hHGF) is the most potent mitogen identified for alveolar type II cells, and may have other important functions in the repair of the alveolar epithelium and compensatory lung growth. A study was conducted to evaluate the changes of serum hHGF levels in patients who underwent thoracic surgical procedures. The patients comprised 17 males and 14 females with a mean age of 47.1+/-13.5 yrs, who underwent either lung resection (LR group) or nonlung resection (nonLR group) thoracic procedures. The changes of hHGF levels were analysed in the pre- and post-operative periods in both groups. The pre-operative hHGF levels did not differ between the LR and the nonLR groups, which were 333.2+/-72.9 pg x mL(-1) and 343.6+/-125.3 pg x mL(-1), respectively. The hHGF levels in the LR group significantly increased up to 433.6+/-128.1 pg x mL(-1) and 430.8+/-128.2 pg x mL(-1) in post-operative days 1 and 3, respectively. However, the same levels in the nonLR group appeared as 333.2+/-77.0 pg x mL(-1) and 311.9+/-73.0 pg x mL(-1), respectively. In conclusion, the increases of serum human hepatocyte growth factor levels following pulmonary resection may imply the important role of human hepatocyte growth factor in lung regeneration or compensatory lung growth in humans.