MMP2 -1306C>T polymorphism and the enzyme plasma levels in patients with COPD

The remodeling of the bronchial walls is an important process of the pathophysiology of COPD as the matrix metalloproteinase-2 (MMP-2) is shown to play an important role in this process. The aim of the current study was to elucidate the possible role of MMP2 -1306Cu003eT promoter polymorphism and plasma MMP-2 level as risk and biomarker of COPD. We genotyped by PCR-RFLP 84 patients with COPD and 71 control individuals and assessed with ELISA the plasma MMP-2 levels in 59 patients and 20 controls. The genotype, but not allele distribution, differed between COPD patients and controls (p=0.021 and 0.602, respectively). Carriers of the variant T allele ( CT+TT ) tended to have 1.64-fold higher risk for COPD (95% CI: 0.82-3.26, p=0.164) than those with CC genotype, as that risk was significant in the subset of older than 65 years individuals (OR=4.24, 95% CI:1.31-13.57, p=0.019). Patients with T genotypes ( CT+TT ) had later onset of the disease (64.1±7.1 years) than those with GG genotype (59.7±9.5 years, p=0.045). The plasma MMP-2 levels were higher, although not significantly, in patients than in controls (440±208 vs. 373±234 ng/ml, p=0.229). This difference was significant in women (555±176 vs. 354±230 ng/ml, p=0.033), but not in men (p=0.798). MMP-2 plasma levels tended to correlate positively with the age of the disease onset (R=0.235, p=0.082), especially in women (R=0.730, p=0.040). The patients with stage IV COPD had significantly lower MMP-2 than those with less advanced state (254±34 vs. 457±210 ng/ml, p=0.039). In conclusion, our results suggest that the T genotypes of MMP2 -1306Cu003eT SNP may determine a risk for COPD especially in advanced age, while the plasma MMP-2 may not be a useful biomarker for COPD.