ABSTRACT
Many recent studies have shown that hepatocyte growth factor [HGF] is a potent mitogen in vivo. HGF play an important role in liver regeneration because it is increased after liver injury and higher levels are maintained in serum during liver regeneration. This study was designed to evaluate serum levels of hepatocyte growth factor [HGF] and blood positivity for anti-platelet antibodies [APA] in children with acute and chronic liver diseases [CLD] of varied etiology and to correlate their levels with concomitant thrombocytopenia. The study included 50 patients and 20 control children. There were 20 patients with acute viral hepatitis [AVH] and 30 patients with CLD [10 chronic viral hepatitis, 10 metabolic liver diseases, and 10 autoimmune liver diseases]. Venous blood sample was collected for complete blood count, liver function tests and for ELISA estimation of serum HGF and detection of blood positivity for APA. All liver function tests were significantly [p<0.05] increased in patients compared to control Platelet count was significantly [p<0.05] decreased in patients with chronic viral hepatitis [CVH] and autoimmune LD compared to both control and AVH groups. Serum HGF level was significantly elevated in all patients [PI =0.006] compared to control levels and in patients with autoimmune LD compared to patients with AVH [P2=0.013], CVH [P3=0.02] and metabolic LD [P4=0.03]. There was a positive significant correlation between serum levels of HGF and serum total bilirubin, ALT and blood positivity for APA. The APA was detected in 25 patients' blood samples with a significantly higher frequency in patients with autoimmune LD. Using the receiver operating characteristic [ROC] curve analysis revealed that blood positivity for APA is a specific, while thrombocytopenia is sensitive indicators for liability of occurrence of bleeding episodes. It could be concluded that serum levels of HGF were elevated in all forms of hepatic insults and correlate with the extent of hepatic derangement as judged by serum levels of total bilirubin and serum ALT. Moreover, 50% of patients with chronic liver diseases were found positive for APA that correlate with serum levels of HGF and the extent of concomitant thrombocytopenia and could be considered as a specific predictor for the occurrence of bleeding episodes in these patients