Hojo S, Fujita J, Yamadori I, Ezaki T, Watanabe S, Yamanouchi H, Miyawaki H, Yamaji Y, Nishioka M, Takahara J
First Department of Internal Medicine, Kagawa Medical University.
Intern Med. 1997 Jan;36(1):44-6. doi: 10.2169/internalmedicine.36.44.
The cause of digital clubbing is unknown. Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is a pleotrophic factor which has various biological effects. We measured serum HGF in 12 patients with digital clubbing; the underlying diseases of these patients were: lung cancer, 2; cystic fibrosis, 2; idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 3; lung cancer with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis, 1; chronic hepatitis, 1; interstitial pneumonia with collagen disease, 2; and bronchiectasis, 1; nine hundred and fifty-seven normal volunteers and 17 lung cancer patients without clubbing served as the control. As a result, the serum HGF concentration in patients with digital clubbing (0.47 +/- 0.29 ng/ml) was significantly higher when compared to that of lung cancer patients without digital clubbing (0.15 +/- 0.04, p < 0.01). Therefore, we suggest that HGF may play a role in the formation of digital clubbing.
