Objective and design: The study examined plasma levels of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) in acute colitis models on mice.
Materials: Acute colitis was induced in male FVB mice (about 25 g) by intrarectal administration of 200 microliters of 0.5% acetic acid.
Methods: Plasma was taken at 0, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h after acetic acid treatment. Plasma HGF was measured by an enzyme immunoassay in duplicate.
Results: Plasma levels of HGF at 0, 12, 24, 36, 48 and 72 h after acetic acid administration were 0.31 +/- 0.11 ng/ml (n = 4), 0.45 +/- 0.04 ng/ml (n = 4), 0.46 +/- 0.13 ng/ml (n = 4), 0.71 +/- 0.22 ng/ml (n = 4), 0.82 +/- 0.15 ng/ml (n = 4) and 0.44 +/- 0.04 ng/ml (n = 4), respectively. Significant increases in plasma HGF levels were observed at 36 and 48 h after the treatment (p < 0.05, compared to at 0 h).
Conclusions: Plasma HGF was induced by acute inflammation of colonic tissues. These findings suggest that HGF in blood may be one of the non-specific markers of inflammation in mice.