Circulating hepatocyte growth factor as an early marker of arterial thrombus formation

This study was designed to measure circulating hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in a rat model of arterial thrombosis. The carotid endothelial surface of rats was denuded with a balloon catheter and partially occluded. The amount of thrombus formation was expressed as the difference between the wet weights of paired treated and nontreated carotid arteries. Thrombus weight increased gradually up to 60 min after denudation. Plasma HGF did not increase before 30 min, but had significantly increased by 60 min compared with all previous measurements (p<0.05). Measurements of circulating HGF may be useful in the early diagnosis of arterial thrombosis.