Skip Navigation



Rheumatology Advance Access published online on November 8, 2005
Rheumatology, doi:10.1093/rheumatology/kei143
This Article
Right arrow FREE Full Text (PDF) Freely available
Right arrow All Versions of this Article:
45/3/303    most recent
kei143v1
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Similar articles in PubMed
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to My Personal Archive
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Disclaimer
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by Asano, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Tamaki, K.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
PubMed
Right arrow PubMed Citation
Right arrow Articles by Asano, Y.
Right arrow Articles by Tamaki, K.
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us  
What's this?

© 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
Received June 3, 2005
Accepted September 2, 2005

Concise Report

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

Y. Asano 1, H. Ihn 2*, M. Kubo 1, M. Jinnin 1, Y. Mimura 1, R. Ashida 1, and K. Tamaki 1

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

* To whom correspondence should be addressed.
H. Ihn, E-mail: ihn-der{at}kaiju.medic.kumamoto-u.ac.jp


  Abstract

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.

Keywords: Disease severity; Disease duration; Pulmonary fibrosis; %VC.
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us    What's this?




Disclaimer: Please note that abstracts for content published before 1996 were created through digital scanning and may therefore not exactly replicate the text of the original print issues. All efforts have been made to ensure accuracy, but the Publisher will not be held responsible for any remaining inaccuracies. If you require any further clarification, please contact our Customer Services Department.