Internal Medicine
Online ISSN : 1349-7235
Print ISSN : 0918-2918
ISSN-L : 0918-2918
Hepatocyte Growth Factor and Digital Clubbing
Satoko HOJOJiro FUJITAIchiro YAMADORIToru EZAKISeishiro WATANABEHideo YAMANOUCHIHiroshi MIYAWAKIYasufumi YAMAJIMikio NISHIOKAJiro TAKAHARA
Author information
JOURNAL FREE ACCESS

1997 Volume 36 Issue 1 Pages 44-46

Details
Abstract

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.
(Internal Medicine 36: 44-46, 1997)

Content from these authors
© The Japanese Society of Internal Medicine
Previous article Next article
feedback
Top