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Rheumatology Advance Access originally published online on November 8, 2005
Rheumatology 2006 45(3):303-307; doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kei143
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© The Author 2005. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of the British Society for Rheumatology. All rights reserved. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oxfordjournals.org

Clinical significance of serum levels of matrix metalloproteinase-13 in patients with systemic sclerosis

Y. Asano, H. Ihn1, M. Kubo, M. Jinnin, Y. Mimura, R. Ashida and K. Tamaki

Department of Dermatology, Faculty of Medicine, University of Tokyo, Tokyo and 1 Department of Dermatology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Faculty of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, Kumamoto, Japan.

Correspondence to: H. Ihn, Department of Dermatology and Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery, Faculty of Medical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kumamoto University, 1–1–1 Honjo, Kumamoto-city, Kumamoto 860-8556, Japan. E-mail: ihn-der{at}kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp

Objectives. To investigate the clinical significance of serum matrix metalloproteinase-13 (MMP-13) levels in patients with systemic sclerosis (SSc).

Methods. Serum MMP-13 levels were determined by using a peptide substrate cleavage assay in 20 patients with diffuse cutaneous SSc (dcSSc), 20 with limited cutaneous SSc (lcSSc) and 10 normal controls.

Results. The serum MMP-13 levels in patients with dcSSc or lcSSc were significantly lower than those in normal controls (53.4 ± 14.1 vs 73.2 ± 11.5 ng/ml, P<0.0005; 59.4 ± 14.8 vs 73.2 ± 11.5 ng/ml, P<0.005, respectively), but there was no significant difference in the serum MMP-13 levels between patients with dcSSc and those with lcSSc. Disease duration prior to the diagnosis was significantly shorter in SSc patients with decreased serum MMP-13 levels than in those with normal levels (3.0 ± 2.2 vs 8.6 ± 7.6 yr, P<0.0005). In addition, serum MMP-13 levels were moderately correlated with the duration of the disease (r = 0.451, P<0.05). Though there was no significant difference in the frequencies of pulmonary fibrosis or reduced %DLco (diffusing capacity of lung for carbon monoxide), the frequency of reduced %VC (vital capacity) was significantly greater in patients with decreased serum MMP-13 levels than in those with normal levels (73 vs 24%, P<0.05).

Conclusions. Matrix metalloproteinase-13 may be involved in the fibrotic process of SSc, especially in the initiation of fibrosis. The serum MMP-13 levels may serve as a useful marker for the severity of pulmonary fibrosis in patients with SSc.

KEY WORDS: Disease severity, Disease duration, Pulmonary fibrosis, %VC


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