Hepatocyte growth factor - the earliest marker of myocardial injury in ST-segment elevation myocardial infarction.

Background: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) concentration increases in the first few hours of myocardial infarction (MI).

Aim: (1) To illustrate human HGF (hHGF) plasma concentration during the first 24 h of ST segment elevation myocardialinfarction (STEMI); (2) To estimate the odds ratio of STEMI in the context of hHGF measurements; (3) To describe the normalconcentration of hHGF in healthy subjects.

Methods: The study groups consisted of 73 STEMI patients and 11 healthy volunteers. In all the patients, we took bloodsamples for hHGF twice, i.e. on admission to hospital and 24 h later.

Results: The median value of hHGF in healthy volunteers was 666 pg/mL (576; 760 pg/mL). In STEMI, the highest values of hHGF were observed in the first measurement. An increase of 1 pg/mL in hHGF level increased STEMI odds ratio by 0.2%.

Conclusions: In acute MI, of the known biomarkers, hHGF rises the earliest and very promptly returns to normal values.