It has been proven that extracellular matrix turnover is involved in the pathogenesis of various renal fibrosis diseases. Matrix metalloproteinase-2 and -9 (MMP-2 & -9) are the extracellular matrix degrading enzymes that are believed to play important roles in renal diseases. However, the relationship of circulating levels of MMP-2, -9 and serum creatinine in the patients of chronic kidney disease (CKD) has not yet been investigated. In this study, together with the determination of plasma creatinine, plasma levels of MMP-2 and MMP-9 were measured by gelatin zymography and ELISA in the plasma samples of 60 CKD patients and 40 control subjects. This study shows that serum creatinine concentrations and MMP-2 activities were significantly higher (p<0.001) while MMP-9 activity and creatinine clearance (CCr) were significantly lower (p<0.05 and p<0.001, respectively) in CKD patients, as compared with those of control subjects. In addition, serum creatinine concentrations correlated with MMP-2 activity (R=0.288, p=0.02) and inversely correlated with that of MMP-9 (R=0.344, p=0.007). From these result, it was the first study to demonstrate a correlation between MMP-2, -9 and serum creatinine in CKD patients to suggest that MMP-2 and MMP-9 might contribute in the pathogenesis of CKD.
