Hiramine K, Sata N, Ido A et al.
Kagoshima University, Kagoshima, Japan.
Int J Mol Med 2011;27:497–502.
Editor’s note: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) and platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) are chemokines with mitogenic and morphogenic effects (Eur Resp J 1990;3:606–7, Cell 1992;68:869–77, Cell 1993;73:1155–64). However, their effects may be very different from one another. Inhibition of PDGF signaling by the tyrosine kinase inhibitor imatinib has been shown to improve experimental pulmonary arterial hypertension (PAH; Hepatology 2009;50:585–91), while the exogenous administration of HGF has been used to experimentally improve acute lung injury (Chest 1998;104:236–50) and suppress vascular remodeling in rats with experimental PAH (Am J Respir Crit Care Med 1999;160:S12–6). In the current study, Hiramine et al. expand on the prior literature by testing HGF in monocrotaline-treated rats.