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Improvement of physical activity significantly reduced serum hepatocyte growth factor levels in a general population: 10 year prospective study

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Abstract

Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) is an adipocytokine elevated in obese subjects. We have previously reported that serum HGF levels were significantly associated with insulin resistance or components of the metabolic syndrome. However, it has been unknown how physical activity (PA) affects HGF levels after a long-term follow-up. Our aim was to clarify the association between PA changes and HGF levels as well as cerebro-cardiovascular disease (CVD) development, during a 10 year follow-up period in a Japanese general population. Of 1320 subjects who received a health check-up examination in Tanushimaru town in 1999, 903 subjects (341 males and 562 females), who received the examination both in 1999 and 2009 were enrolled. We evaluated their PA levels by Baecke questionnaire in 1999 and by a simple questionnaire in 2009. We measured the HGF levels by ELISA method in 1999 and 2009. We divided the subjects into four PA groups, stable low PA, increased PA, decreased PA, and stable high PA. Using these questionnaires, we compared their PA and HGF levels after an interval of 10 years. A significant inverse association was found between PA changes and HGF levels at 10 years, after adjustment for age and sex. The HGF levels of the increased PA group were significantly lower than stable low PA (p = 0.038), and the increased PA group showed reduced CVD development compared to the stable low PA group after adjustment for age and sex (p = 0.012). Our data demonstrated that improvement of PA levels was associated with reduced HGF levels and CVD development.

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Acknowledgements

AS was primary investigator and performed this examination. HA, ME, AF, YN, NM, MY, and HS. planned and performed this study. KM performed the statistical analysis. YF designed this study and he is a head of the department supervisor. All the authors read and approved the final manuscript. We are grateful to the members of the Japan Medical Association of Ukiha, the elected officials and residents of Tanushimaru, and the team of cooperating physicians for their help in performing the health examinations. This study was supported in part by the Kimura Memorial Heart Foundation (Fukuoka, Japan).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Department of Internal Medicine, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan

    Akiko Sakaue, Hisashi Adachi, Mika Enomoto, Ako Fukami, Yume Nohara, Nagisa Morikawa, Maki Yamamoto, Hiromi Sato & Yoshihiro Fukumoto

  2. Biostatistics Center, Graduate School of Medicine, Kurume University, Kurume, Japan

    Kenta Murotani

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  1. Akiko Sakaue
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  2. Hisashi Adachi
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  3. Mika Enomoto
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Correspondence to Hisashi Adachi.

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A. Sakaue, H. Adachi, M. Enomoto, A. Fukami, Y. Nohara, N. Morikawa, M. Yamamoto, H. Sato, K. Murotani, and Y. Fukumoto declared no potential conflict of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

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Sakaue, A., Adachi, H., Enomoto, M. et al. Improvement of physical activity significantly reduced serum hepatocyte growth factor levels in a general population: 10 year prospective study. Heart Vessels 38, 588–598 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00380-022-02198-6

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00380-022-02198-6

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