Matrix metalloproteinases in serum of Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy patients

In the pathogenesis of dilated cardiomyopathy (DCM) in Emery-Dreifuss muscular dystrophy (EDMD) matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs) are supposed to be involved and may have diagnostic/prognostic value. Serum levels of MT1-MMP, MMP-2 and MMP-9 were quantified by ELISA and zymography in 22 EDMD patients and 15 age-matched controls. In the autosomal-dominant EDMD MMP-2 and MT1-MMP were increased in all cases, and MMP-9 was increased in two of the eight examined patients. In the X-linked EDMD MMP-2 expression was increased in all the cases, MMP-9 level was elevated in 3 of the 14 cases, and MT1-MMP was decreased in eight of these patients. There was no evident correlation between the MMPs level and the different cardiac parameters including left-ventricular end-diastolic diameter, left atrial diameter and left ventricular ejection fraction in either form of EDMD. The presented results indicate that a changed level of matrix metalloproteinases, especially that of MMP-2 in serum, may be of value for detection of cardiac involvement in EDMD patients, especially in those patients with no evident subjective cardiac symptoms. Further follow-up studies of MMPs are needed to check if their determination is of value for monitoring of the progression of atrial/ventricular dilatation. MMPs determinations may also be useful for monitoring DCM treatment by synthetic MMPs inhibitors.