Shikano M, Kushimoto H, Hasegawa H, Tomita M, Hasegawa M, Murakami K, Kawashima S
Department of Internal Medicine, Fujita Health University, Toyoake, Aichi.
Intern Med. 2000 Sep;39(9):715-9. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.39.715.
The diagnosis of amyloidosis still relies on biopsy, but there has been a growing demand for the development of a specific noninvasive diagnostic technique. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) acts on a variety of epithelial cells in multiple ways and is predominantly produced by mesenchymal cells and macrophages. In the present study, we measured the serum HGF level in patients with amyloidosis and investigated its usefulness for the diagnosis of this disease.
The subjects were 18 patients diagnosed as having amyloidosis by biopsy. We also measured serum HGF in 47 patients with chronic glomerulonephritis, 32 patients on hemodialysis, and 24 healthy volunteers. The serum HGF level was measured using an HGF ELISA kit.
The serum HGF level of patients with amyloidosis was significantly increased compared with that of healthy volunteers, patients with chronic glomerulonephritis, and hemodialysis patients (2.26+/-2.73 ng/ml versus 0.20+/-0.04 ng/ml, 0.23+/-0.08 ng/ml, and 0.18+/-0.07 ng/ml respectively, p<0.0001). There was no significant difference between amyloid light-chain and amyloid A amyloidosis, but the serum HGF level of amyloidosis patients who died within 1 year of measurement was significantly higher than that of patients who lived for more than 1 year (2.83+/-2.85 ng/ml versus 0.49+/-0.26 ng/ml, p<0.01).
The serum HGF level was significantly elevated in both amyloid light-chain and amyloid A amyloidosis and was a very useful indicator of suspected amyloidosis as well as a potential prognostic indicator. The serum HGF level may become a useful indicator for diagnosing amyloidosis.
淀粉样变性的诊断仍依赖于活检，但对开发一种特定的非侵入性诊断技术的需求日益增长。肝细胞生长因子（HGF）以多种方式作用于多种上皮细胞，主要由间充质细胞和巨噬细胞产生。在本研究中，我们测量了淀粉样变性患者的血清HGF水平，并研究了其对该疾病诊断的实用性。
研究对象为18例经活检确诊为淀粉样变性的患者。我们还测量了47例慢性肾小球肾炎患者、32例血液透析患者和24名健康志愿者的血清HGF水平。使用HGF ELISA试剂盒测量血清HGF水平。
与健康志愿者、慢性肾小球肾炎患者和血液透析患者相比，淀粉样变性患者的血清HGF水平显著升高（分别为2.26±2.73 ng/ml与0.20±0.04 ng/ml、0.23±0.08 ng/ml和0.18±0.07 ng/ml，p<0.0001）。淀粉样轻链和淀粉样A淀粉样变性之间无显著差异，但在测量后1年内死亡的淀粉样变性患者的血清HGF水平显著高于存活超过1年的患者（2.83±2.85 ng/ml与0.49±0.26 ng/ml，p<0.01）。
淀粉样轻链和淀粉样A淀粉样变性患者的血清HGF水平均显著升高，是疑似淀粉样变性的非常有用的指标以及潜在的预后指标。血清HGF水平可能成为诊断淀粉样变性的有用指标。
