Anti-inflammatory effect of HGF responses to traumatic oral ulcers using an HGF-Tg mouse model

Abstract

Background: Hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) has been implicated in inhibiting diverse types of inflammation and promoting wound healing. In this study, we demonstrate the anti-inflammatory effect of HGF on traumatic ulcer of oral mucosa using HGF overexpression transgenic C57BL/6 (HGF-Tg) mice. In total, 29 C57BL/6 (WT) and 29 HGF-Tg mice were used in this study. Traumatic ulcer of left mucosa was performed by abrasion using a n 15 surgery knife. Ulcer tissues and serum samples were collected on 5 th day, histological score, expression of inflammatory cells and serum cytokines expression were measured and analyzed. Results: There existed statistical significant difference in connective Ly6G positive cells and NF-кB positive expression, HGF-Tg mice showed lower number of positive cells ( p =0.048, p =0.020 ). Eotaxin ( t -test, p =0.002), MIP-1gamma ( t -test, p =0.011), BLC ( t -test, p =0.03),Eotaxin-2 ( t -test, p =0.027), RANTES ( t -test, p =0.038), Lix ( t -test, p =0.04) and IL-3 ( t -test, p =0.047) had statistical significance higher expression in HGF-Tg mice. No significant difference of blood T cells ( p =0.998), Neutrophils ( p =0.331),Macrophages ( p =0.470) and CD4+/CD8+ ratio ( p =0.451) between HGF-Tg and WT group. Conclusions: We observed that HGF-Tg animals presented less Ly6G-positive neutrophil infiltration, higher levels of circulating cytokines and less NF- к B expression in connective tissue, with a positive effect on the healing of oral traumatic ulcers. Key words: HGF, oral ulcer, cytokine, inflammation