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

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) concentration increases in the first few hours of myocardial infarction (MI). (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. 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. 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%. In acute MI, of the known biomarkers, hHGF rises the earliest and very promptly returns to normal values.