A basic research for use of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) for diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease.

肝细胞生长因子（Hepatocyte growth factor， HGF）又称散点因子，是一种广谱、多功能的细胞因子，参与多种器官和组织的发育、生长和再生。白细胞介素1等炎性细胞因子诱导牙龈成纤维细胞中HGF的表达。因此，牙周病患者龈沟液（GCF）中HGF的含量可能增加，但由于龈沟液的体积太小而无法测定HGF，因此迄今尚未有报道。最近，我们开发了一种高灵敏度的HGF酶联免疫吸附试验（ELISA），检测限为1 pg/ml样品。通过ELISA检测，我们发现临床健康牙龈部位GCF中HGF的平均含量为1.7 ng/ml，牙周炎部位HGF的平均含量为3.23 ng/ml。由于健康受试者血清中HGF的平均水平为0.2 ng/ml，我们的结果表明HGF是在牙龈组织中合成和激活的。我们通过原位杂交证实HGF在牙龈成纤维细胞和炎症细胞中表达。通过免疫染色和逆转录聚合酶链反应，我们还发现HGF激活因子在牙龈组织中表达，该激活因子可将无活性的HGF前转化为有活性的成熟HGF。这些结果提示HGF可能有助于牙周病的诊断和治疗。

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF), also known as scatter factor, is a broad-spectrum and multifunctional cytokine and is shown to be involved in the development, growth and regeneration of various organs and tissues. The expression of HGF in human gingival fibroblasts in induced by inflammatory cytokines such as interleukin 1. Thus, it is possible that content of HGF in gingival crevicular fluid (GCF) in periodontal disease is increased but this has not so far been reported because the volume of GCF is too small to determine HGF. Recently, we developed a highly sensitive enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) for HGF, with a detection limit of 1 pg/ml sample. Using this ELISA, we found that the mean HGF content in GCF from sites with clinically healthy gingiva was 1.7 ng/ml, and that of periodontitis was 3.23 ng/ml. Since the mean level of HGF in serum from healthy subjects is 0.2 ng/ml, our results indicate that HGF is synthesized and activated in gingival tissue. We confirmed that HGF is expressed by gingival fibroblasts and inflammatory cells by in situ hybridization. We also showed that HGF-activator, which converts inactive pro-HGF to active mature HGF, is expressed in gingival tissue by immunostaining and reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction. These results suggest that HGF may be useful for diagnosis and treatment of periodontal disease.