Dysregulation of Fibroblast Growth Factor 10 in the Peripheral Blood of Patients with Schizophrenia.

The fibroblast growth factor (FGF) system has been suggested to be involved in the development of schizophrenia (SCZ). However, the potential roles of all FGFs have not been well studied in the literature. Here, we investigated the concentration of peripheral blood fibroblast 10 (FGF10) in patients with SCZ to determine whether FGF10 could serve as a biomarker for SCZ. We recruited 130 SCZ patients (57 first-episode, drug-free patients and 73 chronically medicated patients) and 111 healthy controls. Our results showed that serum FGF10 levels were significantly decreased in SCZ patients when compared with controls. Sub-group analyses revealed that both first-episode, drug-free patients and chronically medicated patients had lower levels of FGF10 than controls. Moreover, both male and female SCZ patients had significantly decreased blood FGF10 levels relative to control subjects. Using a receiver operating characteristic curve, the optimal cutoff value of FGF10 level as an indicator for diagnosis of first-onset SCZ patients was projected to be 152.3 pg/ml, which yielded a sensitivity of 0.658 and specificity of 0.649, with an area under the curve of 0.665 (95% confidence interval, 0.577-0.754). Taken together, our results are the first to demonstrate an association between FGF10 and SCZ, providing further evidence for the neurotrophic factor hypothesis of SCZ.

Cord blood fibroblast growth factor-10 as a possible predictor of bronchopulmonary dysplasia in preterm infants.

OBJECTIVE: To evaluate fibroblast growth factor-10 (FGF-10) levels in cord blood as a possible predictor of the subsequent development of bronchopulmonary dysplasia (BPD) in preterm infants. PATIENTS AND METHODS: A total of 269 preterm (≤32 weeks gestation) infants (76 infants developed BPD and 193 had no BPD) were enrolled. FGF-10 levels were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay. RESULTS: Preterm infants who subsequently developed BPD had significantly lower cord serum levels of FGF-10 than those who did not (p < 0.001). Cord blood levels of FGF-10 were significantly lower in infants with severe BPD than those with moderate or mild disease (p < 0.001). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that low cord blood FGF-10 level was independently associated with the subsequent risk of BPD (OR = 0.978 [95 % CI: 0.959 - 0.997]; p = 0.02). CONCLUSION: Low cord blood FGF-10 levels may predict the subsequent development of BPD in preterm infants.