Department of Dermatology, University of Tokyo Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo, Japan.
J Dermatol. 2018 Feb;45(2):182-188. doi: 10.1111/1346-8138.14088. Epub 2017 Oct 17.
Heparin-binding epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like growth factor (HB-EGF) is a member of the EGF family growth factors, which affects multiple aspects of the wound healing process such as epithelialization, wound contraction and angiogenesis. In our study, we measured the serum HB-EGF levels of 51 systemic sclerosis (SSc) patients, which showed a significant increase compared with those of 20 normal subjects. Further analysis revealed a positive correlation between the HB-EGF level and pulmonary ground-glass score but no correlation between the former and pulmonary fibrosis score. Other findings include: a significant increase of serum sialylated carbohydrate antigen KL-6 levels and significant shortness of disease duration in the diffuse cutaneous SSc patients with elevated HB-EGF levels; and significantly higher HB-EGF levels in the presence of Raynaud's phenomenon, in that of telangiectasia, and in the absence of contracture of phalanges in all SSc patients. We then evaluated HB-EGF mRNA levels of fibroblasts harvested from skin samples of the SSc patients and those of foreskin-derived fibroblasts treated with transforming growth factor-β, both of which were significantly higher than each control. In conclusion, we speculate that HB-EGF plays a pro-inflammatory role in the active skin and lung lesions of SSc.
肝素结合表皮生长因子（EGF）样生长因子（HB-EGF）是 EGF 家族生长因子的成员，它影响伤口愈合过程的多个方面，如上皮化、伤口收缩和血管生成。在我们的研究中，我们测量了 51 例系统性硬化症（SSc）患者的血清 HB-EGF 水平，与 20 例正常对照相比，明显升高。进一步分析显示，HB-EGF 水平与肺部磨玻璃评分呈正相关，但与肺纤维化评分无关。其他发现包括：HB-EGF 水平升高的弥漫性皮肤 SSc 患者血清唾液酸化糖抗原 KL-6 水平显著升高，疾病持续时间明显缩短；在所有 SSc 患者中，雷纳德现象、毛细血管扩张和指骨挛缩的存在与 HB-EGF 水平显著升高有关。然后，我们评估了从 SSc 患者皮肤样本中分离的成纤维细胞和用转化生长因子-β处理的包皮衍生成纤维细胞的 HB-EGF mRNA 水平，两者均明显高于各自的对照。总之，我们推测 HB-EGF 在 SSc 的活跃皮肤和肺部病变中发挥促炎作用。
