Department of Internal Medicine, University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, USA.
Vasc Med. 2011 Oct;16(5):339-45. doi: 10.1177/1358863X11422110.
Prior reports have associated increased circulating levels of matrix metalloproteinase-9 (MMP-9), an endopeptidase active in the extracellular matrix, with the formation and rupture of aortic aneurysms, raising the possibility that MMP-9 may be a useful diagnostic or therapeutic target for aortic pathology. However, associations between MMP-9 and pathological abdominal aortic phenotypes in the general population have not been reported. In the Dallas Heart Study, a population-based sample of Dallas County residents (n = 2304), we measured MMP-9 and performed magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) of the abdominal aorta, measuring aortic compliance, plaque, wall thickness and luminal diameter. After adjustment for traditional cardiac risk factors and body size, higher MMP-9 quartiles were independently associated with higher aortic wall thickness and larger luminal diameter (p < 0.0001 for each), but not abdominal aortic plaque (p = 0.08), coronary artery calcium (p = 0.20) or the aortic luminal diameter/aortic wall thickness ratio (p = 0.37), supporting the hypothesis that therapies targeting MMP-9 may affect the abdominal aortic wall and modify aortic pathology.
先前的报告表明，基质金属蛋白酶-9（MMP-9）的循环水平升高与主动脉瘤的形成和破裂有关，MMP-9 是细胞外基质中具有活性的内肽酶，这提示 MMP-9 可能是一种有用的主动脉病变的诊断或治疗靶点。然而，在一般人群中，MMP-9 与病理性腹主动脉表型之间的关系尚未有报道。在达拉斯心脏研究中，我们对达拉斯县居民的一个基于人群的样本（n = 2304）进行了 MMP-9 测量和腹部主动脉磁共振成像（MRI）检查，测量了主动脉顺应性、斑块、壁厚度和管腔直径。在调整传统的心脏危险因素和体型后，较高的 MMP-9 四分位数与较高的主动脉壁厚度和较大的管腔直径独立相关（每个四分位数的 p < 0.0001），但与腹主动脉斑块（p = 0.08）、冠状动脉钙（p = 0.20）或主动脉管腔直径/主动脉壁厚度比值（p = 0.37）无关，这支持了靶向 MMP-9 的治疗可能影响腹主动脉壁并改变主动脉病变的假说。
