Sequential changes of hepatocyte growth factor in the serum and enhanced c-Met expression in the myocardium in acute myocardial infarction

A 68-year-old male with acute myocardial infarction (AMI) was admitted to the hospital with chest pain that had started 1 day earlier. The serum levels (ng/ml) of hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) were 1.06, 1.22, 1.05, 0.72 and 0.64 on days 2, 3, 4, 5 and 6 postinfarction, respectively. He died suddenly due to cardiopulmonary arrest on day 6. At autopsy, approximately 400 ml of bloody pericardial fluid, caused by rupture of the left ventricle, was detected and the c-Met expression in the myocardium was immunohistochemically found to be most intense in the border zone of the infarcted and non-infarcted region. Although there was no c-Met expression in the infarcted myocardium, it was increased in the myocardial cells surrounding the blood vessels. This is the first report to show sequential changes of HGF in the serum, as well as c-Met expression in the myocardium, in a patient with AMI.