Study On The Association Between 3 Matrix Metalloproteinases And Systemic Lupus Erythematosus

Objective This study aims to determine the serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-3 and MMP-13 and the mRNA expression of MMP-3 and MMP-13 in peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) of patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) and discuss the possible clinical associations, futher providing scientific evidence for the diagnosis and treatment of SLE.Methods 60 SLE patients were selected from the Rheumatology Department in Anhui Provincial Hospital, and 60 healthy volunteers were recruited as controls in the present study. General information and laboratory examination results were collected by self-designed questionnaire containing the Systemic Lupus Erythematosus Disease Activity Index (SLEDAI). Serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-3 and MMP-13 were determined by enzyme linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) from American R&D Systems. Fluorescent quantitative polymerase chain reaction (FQ-PCR) was used to examine the mRNA expression of MMP-3 and MMP-13 in PBMCs in 25 SLE patients and 15 healthy individuals. Statistic analyses were performed by SPSS 10.01. Comparisons of the differences between different groups were made by the Student's t- test or Mann-whitney rank sum test for continuous variables. Pearson correlation or Spearman correlation were used to analyze the correlation between two continuous variables. P<0.05 was considered statistically significant.Results The serum levels of MMP-2, MMP-3 and MMP-13 from SLE patients were significantly higher than that from health controls (P<0.001). However, no correlation between the serum levels of the three MMPs and SLEDAI were observed. Another finding provided that there was a significant correlation between the serum levels of MMP-2 and MMP-13 (rs=-0.366, P<0.05). But the expression of MMP-3 and MMP-13 mRNA in SLE patients was not significant different from the healthy individuals.Conclusion Despite the lack of correlation between serum levels of the 3 MMPs and disease activity, the higher MMPs levels in patients with SLE suggests MMPs may be involved in the inflammatory process of this disease.