Decreased Serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) in Individuals with Anxiety Increases after Zinc Therapy

• Main Author: A.J. Russo
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: SAGE Publishing 2010-01-01
• Series: Nutrition and Metabolic Insights
• Online Access: https://doi.org/10.4137/NMI.S5495

Aim To assess serum Hepatocyte Growth Factor (HGF) levels in individuals with anxiety and to test the hypothesis that there is a relationship between HGF levels and zinc therapy. Subjects and Methods Serum from 19 individuals with anxiety and 19 controls were tested for serum HGF using ELISAs. HGF serum concentration in individuals with anxiety before zinc and anti-oxidant therapy was compared to levels after therapy. Zinc and copper levels in anxiety patients, pre and post therapy, were also measured and compared. Results Individuals with anxiety had significantly lower serum levels of HGF compared to controls ( P = 0.0005). HGF concentration rose significantly (normalized) after zinc therapy ( P = 0.04) and zinc levels increased significantly in these same patients ( P = 0.0002). Discussion These results suggest an association between HGF serum levels and individuals with anxiety and demonstrate that zinc therapy is associated with increasing HGF levels.