Nutrition and Metabolic Insights

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.