Serum epidermal growth factor concentrations in healthy men

Introduction: Despite the documented importance of epidermal growth factor in health, tiny information is available on its serum concentrations. Objective: To describe the behaviour of serum epidermal growth factor. Methods: Cross-sectional observational and analytical study in apparently healthy male subjects selected by simple random sampling from a group of blood donors. Commercial UMELISA-EGF® kits were used. The variables used were: sex, age, weight, blood group and serum EGF concentration. Percentages and arithmetic means were used as summary measures. Statistical significance was tested using Pearson's chi-squared test or Welch's t-test with α= 0.05. A univariate strategy was used to calculate odds ratios. Results: Serum EGF levels of 507.54±155.69 pg/mL were observed in 32 subjects with a mean age and weight of 34.6±3.82 years and 74.3±3.93 kg, predominantly blood groups O+ (46.87%) and A+ (28.12%). The probability of finding EGF levels below 100 pg/mL was higher in subjects <30 years than in those ≥30 years (OR=4.2 CI_95%: 0.8783-3.9599; p=0.0007). The probability of finding EGF levels below 870 pg/mL is higher in A+ than in O+ subjects (OR=4 CI_95%: 0.6840-4.8739; p=0.0171). Conclusions: There is evidence of a putative association between serum EGF levels and A+ and O+ blood groups, with an apparent inverse association with body weight. The variability of serum EGF concentrations decreases with increasing age.