Clinical application of MMP-3 in evaluating bone erosion in gouty arthritis

Abstract Objective To investigate the clinical application of serum matrix metalloproteinase-3 (MMP-3) in bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients with with tophi. Methods A retrospective study was conducted to select 159 patients with gouty arthritis admitted to the Rheumatology and Immunology Department of Nanjing First Hospital from June 2022 to March 2023. According to the 2015 ACR/EULAR classification criteria for gout and the results of X-ray、musculoskeletal ultrasound or dual source CT examination of gouty joints, the patients were divided into two groups,85 cases without tophi and 74 cases with tophi. The serum MMP-3 levels of the two groups were detected by latex enhanced immunoturbidimetry, and the differences of serum MMP-3 levels between the two groups were compared. The evaluation and prediction efficacy of serum MMP-3 levels on bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients were evaluated based on the imaging results, and the influencing factors of bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients were analyzed. Results The serum MMP-3 level in the group with tophi was significantly higher than that in the group without tophi, 150.31(74.99, 216.55)vs 60.15༈43.58, 75.34༉ng/ml, and the difference was statistically significant༈P < 0.001༉. The optimal cutoff value of serum MMP-3 for predicting bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients was 118.19ng/ml, and the area under the curve (AUC) was 0.811. Multivariate Logistic regression analysis showed that serum MMP-3 level was an independent risk factor for bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients (OR = 1.03, 95%CI 1.01–1.05, P < 0.001). Conclusion Serum MMP-3 level is closely related to the occurrence of bone erosion in gouty arthritis patients, which provides certain basis for the prediction of bone erosion in gouty arthritis and has clinical application value.