Serum Levels And Their Clinical Significances Of Stem Cell Factor In Patients With Severe Hepatitis

objective:To investigate the serum levels of stem cell factor(SCF) and their clinical significances in patients with severe hepatitis(SH).Methods:The subjects included 15 patients with acute hepatitis(AH),16 patients with chronic hepatitis(CH) and 14 patients with SH,who were subdivided into survival group(4 patients) and no-survival group(10 patients).The serum levels of SCF and hepatocyte growth factor(HGF) were serially observed in survival group(4 patients) and no-survival group(4 patients).All patients of the acute and chronic hepatitis had a favorable prognosis.15 healthy subjects matched for age and sex were included as normal control(NC).The serum levels of SCF and HGF were measured by ELISA.Results:The serum levels of SCF were significantly higher in SH patients(2403.1±42.8 pg/ml) than those in AH(2354.9±19.0 pg/ml),CH(2376.7±16.4 pg/ml) and the NC(2358.4±16.0 pg/ml)(P＜0.05),and serum levels of SCF in non-survival group(2418.1±50.7 pg/ml) of SH patients were also significantly higher than those in the survival group(2376.3±11.7 pg/ml) of SH patients(P＜0.05).SCF levels in survival group of SH patients gradually increased,and in non-survival group gradually decreased after admission.Serum levels of SCF showed significantly positive correlation(r =0.38 P＜0.01) with those of HGF and significantly negative correlation with those of prothrombin time activity(PTA) and albumin.Conclusions:The serum level of SCF on admission may correlate with the degree of hepatic injury in patients with SH and not directly correlate with hepatocyte proliferation.The serum level of SCF can more accurately reflect degree of hepatic injury than that of HGF in patients with SH.